MARGAO
Before Covid-19 raised its ugly head in the State around nine months ago, Employees State Insurance (ESI) scheme beneficiaries used to walk into the multi-storied ESI hospital, Margao as a matter of right.
Requisitioning of the ESI hospital on March 16 to set up a dedicated Covid hospital had left thousands of ESI beneficiaries in the lurch, with the government not providing a dedicated and alternate medical facility to meet their requirements.
With the ESI hospital management seeking the nod from the district authorities to resume all medical facilities for the beneficiaries once again, there’s finally a ray of hope that the beneficiaries will get back their dedicated facility in the near future.
In fact, ESI Hospital Superintendent, Dr Vishwajit Faldesai said the ESI hospital services can return back at the ESI hospital within days if the district authorities give the nod. In fact, ESI hospital officials in private say the ESI facility can be put in place within days and the entire hospital can resume operations before the year-end.
Dr Faldesai said it may take a week to sanitise the entire hospital building before the ESI hospitals return back to normal. “The ESI hospital can once again throw open its doors for the beneficiaries within days if the district authorities give the nod,” he added.
The 100-bedded ESI hospital, Margao, had been catering to the thousands of ESI scheme beneficiaries ever since the hospital was upgraded in recent years. Though the multi-storeyed hospital building was never utilised to its full potential till the hospital was requisitioned by the district Collector, South on March 16, the ESI hospital was indeed a dedicated medical facility for the working class.
After the hospital was notified as a dedicated Covid hospital, ESI beneficiaries availing medical facilities in the hospital were completely left in the lurch. In the absence of any dedicated medical service, these ESI beneficiaries had been left with no option than to avail medical facilities either at the Hospicio or the Goa Medical College, Bambolim.
“We know that the ESI scheme beneficiaries could not get a dedicated medical facility during the last nine months. But, we were helpless in this extra ordinary situation which called for extra ordinary efforts to face the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” Dr Faldesai said.
Officials of the Labour department in private say the department was never in favour of converting the ESI hospital facility as a dedicated Covid hospital since the hospital’s intended objective was to meet the requirements of the working class. “Workers under the ESI scheme used to make contributions every month in order to avail benefit at the ESI hospital or the dispensaries. It was not fair to deny them the medical facility at the dedicated ESI hospital,” remarked a senior Labour department official.
He added: “Since the government now has plans to make the South Goa district hospital a dedicated Covid hospital, the ESI hospital, Margao should be immediately thrown open for the ESI beneficiaries.”
