ESIC Hospital in Tiruppur a huge relief for lakhs of industrial workers

TIRUPPUR Employee Unions relieved as 100-bedded ESIC Hospital finally nears completion after two-decade wait for healthcare facility.

Employee Unions voicing the health cause of an estimated six lakh industrial workers in the Tiruppur garment export cluster have heaved a sigh of relief over the recent commissioning of the 100-bedded ESIC Hospital, nearly two decades after the process was initiated.

An announcement on sanction of a full-fledged ESI Hospital in Tiruppur was made by the then Union Labour Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on May 1, 2005, in the town, when it was still a part of Coimbatore district, while taking part in a conference organised by the Marumalarchi Labour Front (MLF), in deference to the request made by its General Secretary S. Duraisamy.

Months later, on August 24, a Government Order was issued. However, the work could not be started for years as the State Government had not allotted the land for the purpose, Mr. Duraisamy said.

All along, the people had to rely only on the couple of ESI dispensaries and had to travel to the ESIC Medical College Hospital in Coimbatore for advanced medical intervention.

Left with no option, the ESIC had, in 2012, purchased about 7.5 acre of land from the HR and CE Department for the purpose on Thirumuruganpoondi-Pooluvapatti Ring Road. However, the construction work could not progress for a decade due to a civil suit by a group of petitioners claiming rights to the land. The main wrangle was over compensation.

In the years that passed by, the HR and CE Department was not prepared to heed the request of ESIC for alternate site. The work did not take off despite the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, laying the foundation for the hospital during February, 2019. The construction work could begin only in 2021, with ₹82 crore funding from the Union Labour and Employment Ministry.

As per official figures, Tiruppur city and surroundings account for over 4 lakh ESIC members. A hospital can be built for 50,000 members each as per ESIC norms, it is learnt.