MP Brijesh Chowta urges Centre to expedite nod for Karnataka ESI Society to enable ESIC to take over hospital in Mangaluru

Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta has written to Union Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya seeking early approval of nominees for the newly constituted Karnataka ESI Society and facilitating the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) takeover of the ESI Hospital in Mangaluru.

The move comes after a prolonged delay in the formation of the Karnataka ESI Society, despite repeated correspondence from the ESIC headquarters. The Director-General of the ESIC had written multiple times to the Karnataka government seeking the constitution of the society, an essential prerequisite for the ESIC to assume control of the ESI hospitals in the State. However, the matter remained pending for several months without a response from the State, he said.

Recognising the importance of the ESI hospital in Mangaluru and the dilapidated state of the hospital, Captain Chowta met with the Director-General, ESIC, in New Delhi in February this year and requested his intervention to resolve the administrative bottleneck. Subsequently, Captain Chowta raised the issue with Santosh Lad, Karnataka Minister for Labour, after which Mangalore City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath met with the Labour Minister and urged him to expedite the formation of the society.

Subsequently, the Karnataka ESI Society was constituted by the Karnataka government, and the list of nominees was forwarded to the Central government for approval.

In the letter, the MP highlighted that the ESI Hospital in Mangaluru serves nearly 2.5 lakh insured persons from across Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, and parts of Kasaragod district in Kerala. Despite being sanctioned 100 beds, the hospital continues to face staff shortage and limited infrastructure, affecting service delivery to insured workers and their families.

Captain Chowta said an early approval from the Centre and the ESIC’s subsequent takeover of the hospital would pave the way for better management, fund utilisation, and service delivery.