GUWAHATI, Jan 5 - Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya today said that the existing 50-bed ESIC Hospital at Beltola here will be upgraded to a 150-bed hospital in phases, and of the existing 28 dispensaries in the State, 10 will be ungraded to six-bed hospitals.
The Union Minister said that as per the Centre�s emphasis on enhancing social security of workers, the ESIC scheme will be expanded from the existing 393 districts across the country to 687 districts, thus increasing the number of subscribers from 2.1 crore to 3.5 crore within two years.
In the North East, the ESIC will be expanded from 17 districts to cover all the districts, he added.
He said that the Centre has taken steps for implementation of the National Career Service Project by establishing 100 model career centres in India and of them 18 are to be established in the North East.
Dattatreya said work is on for simplification of 43 labour laws through their amalgamation into four major codes, including code on wages, code on industrial relations, code on social security and welfare and code on safety and working conditions.
The Central government will also soon come up with a national minimum wage and all the north-eastern states have been asked to ensure that workers are paid wages above the minimum ceiling, he said.
He said the Union Labour Ministry has till January 4 conducted 1,38,730 camps on financial inclusion and demonetisation and the ministry has opened 42.29 lakh bank accounts of workers.
Regarding working condition of journalists and people engaged in the media industry, Dattatreya said all state governments have been asked to ensure implementation of the Majithia Wage Board recommendations.
He said the Labour Ministry will also soon hold tripartite talks with the managements of media houses and working journalists� unions to frame consensus to see if any new Act could be framed for the media-persons, including those working in the electronic media.
Earlier in the day, the regional conference of State Labour Ministers and Principal Secretaries of Labour of the north-eastern states was held in the city where Dattatreya participated. The event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
