Tirupati: In an effort to bring quality medical care within the reach of ESI subscribers, three super specialty hospitals will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, said Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya. Dattatreya inspected the ESI Regional Hospital here on Thursday. Later, speaking to the media, he said the proposed hospitals will be at Visakhapatnam, which is growing rapidly as an industrial city, and between Vijayawada and Guntur, the new capital city area.

The third one will be at Tirupati, where the existing ESI Regional Hospital would be upgraded into a super specialty hospital, at a cost of Rs 125 crore. The Union Minister asked the state government to provide suitable lands for the hospital between Vijayawada and Guntur and also to get the land belonging to Visakhapatnam Port Trust for setting up the hospitals for the benefit of the employees and workers.  

This apart, the present ESI Hospital in backward Vizianagaram will be developed by increasing the bed strength from 10 to 100, he said, adding that this was keeping in view the large number of the unorganised workforce in the district. In another major initiative, Dattatreya said that the state government will be involved in the maintenance of the ESI Hospitals as part of Prime Minister Narednra Modi’s devolution of powers to states.

Accordingly, state-level executive committees will be set up to look after the hospitals, including approving works up to Rs 5 crore which, he said, will help better functioning of the ESI Hospital in the states. The ESI Hospitals, including the staff and beneficiaries, will be involved in ‘Swachh Bharat’ programme in select labour localities or slums in their areas, besides taking up cleaning and upkeep of the hospital area on priority basis, he added.

On the initiatives for youth, the Union Minister said more and more skill development centres would be set up and the ITI will be upgraded, including increasing their strength, so as to help the youth develop their skills for employment. Dattatreya said that the National Career Counsel Centre will launch a portal on April 6 for linking up the details of the unemployed youth from the employment exchanges in the states.

This is to send text messages (SMS) to the unemployed youth about job opportunities, he explained claiming that the novel initiative will go a long way in helping the youth get a suitable job. Besides, the Centre is also entering into an MoU with Canada, Australia and Germany for the accreditation of our skill development programmes.