File Photo: The Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) on Pooluvapatti Ring Road in Tirupur.

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All the newly commissioned and upcoming Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals will now be directly managed by the Corporation to ensure uniform, standardised, efficient, and quality healthcare services are available across all new facilities nationwide.This is one of the several decisions taken at the 198th meeting of the ESIC chaired by Union Minister for Labour & Employment Mansukh Mandaviya.The ESI Corporation had given in-principle approval for setting up of 105 new hospitals in the country in its meeting in February 2024. While there are 160 functioning ESI hospitals across the country, which include 51 of them directly managed by the ESIC, the remaining 109 are under the respective state governments.In-principle approval was accorded for reorganisation and strengthening of the Medical Education Division, including creation of functional verticals and additional posts, and constitution of an ESIC Medical Education Advisory Board, to support the expansion of medical, dental, nursing, and allied health science institutions, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement.The Corporation approved adoption of a new consolidated MoU for State ESI Societies, replacing the 2017 models of the Memorandum of Association and Rules & Regulations, necessitated by the enactment of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The decision also enables Governing Body and Executive Committee sessions to proceed during pending non-official nominations, and designates the Insurance Commissioner and Medical Commissioner as permanent invitees to such meetings.Among a series of major healthcare infrastructure initiatives which got a nod included the establishment of Occupational Disease Centres (ODCs) at Sanathnagar, Faridabad, Ludhiana, Beltola, and Bhubaneswar. In-principle approval was given for Zonal Rehabilitation Centres for comprehensive occupational health management.The Corporation also decided to go ahead with phased upgradation of ESIC Model Hospital, Bari Brahmana, Jammu from 50 to 100 beds, comprising 20 additional beds within the existing building, a new 30-bed ward, and identification of land for a new facility in the region; upgradation of ESIC Hospital, Tirunelveli from 100 bedded to 150 bedded and acquiring of adjacent lands for developing SST blocks and in-principle approval for a Radiation Oncology Block at ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Joka, Kolkata — featuring a High-Energy Linear Accelerator, CT Simulator Unit, Brachytherapy Unit, and PET-CT Scan facility — to strengthen cancer care for beneficiaries across the Eastern Zone, including West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, and the North-Eastern States.The Ministry said that the Corporation approved a MoU between the Ministry of Ayush and ESIC, Ministry of Labour & Employment, to create a joint framework for integration, promotion, strengthening, and capacity-building of Ayush services within ESIC’s healthcare delivery system, addressing occupational and lifestyle-related health challenges through holistic and accessible care.Published on June 30, 2026