Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatrayya laid foundation stone for a 100-bedded ESI Super Specialty Hospital at Seetharambagh in Gosha Mahal Assembly constituency here on Saturday.
The function was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy, BJP MLA Raja Singh, ESIC Commissioner Dr. R.K. Katraiah, former MLAs Prem Singh Rathore and Ramaswamy and senior officials.
Speaking on the occasion, Dattatraya said that instead of constructing ESI Dispensary on available three acres of land, the Central Government was establishing a 100-bedded hospital at a cost of Rs. 100 crore. Besides having Emergency Services, the hospital would attend to specialties like cardiology and kidney ailments. He said that the hospital would serve the labour classes hailing from Gosha Mahal, Nampally, Karwan, Dabeerpura, Yakutpura, Katedhan, Shamshabad, Chappal Bazar and other areas of the Old City.
The Union Minister said that the hospital is expected to provide treatment to nearly five lakh people annually as the new facility is being constructed for more than one lakh insured persons. He said presently 11 ESI Dispensaries are functioning across the city. All of them would be upgraded to 10-bedded hospitals soon. He said that the Central Government would construct a new hospital building if the State Government provides land for the same. He assured that the workers of unorganised sector too would be provided ESI benefits in a phased manner. On pilot basis, the facility is being provided to Auto-rickshaw drivers, cycle-rickshaw pullers and construction labourers of Hyderabad and Delhi. (INN)