A bill seeking to provide more benefits to employees covered under Employees State Insurance scheme and their dependents in case of sickness, maternity and employment injury was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Minister of State of Labour and Employment, Harish Rawat introduced the Employees' State Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2009, to carry out necessary changes in the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948.
The Bill aims at enhancing the age limit from existing 18 years to 21 years for the purpose of giving benefits to dependents.
It includes an apprentice as an employee, provides for benefit to workers for accidents happening while commuting to and from place of work and enables Central government to make rules to decide dependency of parents on basis of income.
It also includes increase in public accountability by valuation of assets once in three years from existing five years and empowers the Central government to specify, by rules, the conditions for medical treatment of an insured person who takes voluntary retirement.
The new measure would ensure health services to the unorganised sector workers under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.
As per the provisions of the new bill, the Insurance inspector would now be designated as social security officer.
The bill also seeks to empower Employees' State Insurance Corporation to enter into an agreement with any local authority, local body or private body for commissioning or running ESI hospitals through third party participation for providing medical treatment and attendance to insured persons.
The measure would ensure improvement in quality of service delivery and raise infrastructural facilities by opening medical colleges and training facilities to have more medical and para-medical staff.
It would also provide for cessation of membership of the ESIC for MPs when they become ministers or Speaker or deputy speaker in Lok Sabha or deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Image: A view of the Indian Parliament.
