At 1.6 mn, employee additions at ESIC in Feb a tad lower than Jan figure

The formal employees added under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) stood at 1.60 million in February, slightly lower than 1.62 million in January, as per data released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The data showed that around 11,000 new establishments registered under the scheme in the month of February, which is 51.7 per cent lower than 22,800 registered in January. The registration of new enterprises will ensure social security cover to their employees. According to the provisional payroll data, employees up to the age group of 25 years constitute the majority of new registrations, as around 0.74 million employees amounting to 46 per cent of the total employees added in the month belong to this age group. “It shows that the youth of the nation are getting good employment opportunities in the country,” the ministry said, adding that the payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise. The gender-wise analysis of payroll data of February, 2023 indicates addition of 0.31 million female workers and 49 transgender employees under the scheme. The enrollment of female members was 1.32 million in January. “It shows that ESIC is committed to deliver its benefits to every section of society,” it said. The existing wage limit for coverage under the scheme is Rs 21,000 per month, whereby the employee contributes 0.75 per cent of their wages while the employer contributes 3.25 per cent, which is used to provide medical and cash benefits to the employees and their families. The employees registered under the scheme are entitled to medical treatment for themselves and their dependents and in case of employment-related disability or death, there is provision for a disability benefit and a family pension respectively. The ESI Act 1948, encompasses certain health-related eventualities that the workers are generally exposed to; such as sickness, maternity, temporary or permanent disablement, occupational disease or death due to employment injury, resulting in loss of wages or earning capacity-total or partial.