Sahib Singh orders demolition of ESI hospital in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Union labour minister Sahib Singh Verma on Monday ordered demolition of the dilapidated ESI General Hospital here, reasoning that if it was not demolished, the seven-storeyed building could claim many innocent lives in the event of a collapse. The 600-bed hospital, constructed in 1971 in Bapunagar area of the city was severely damaged during the earthquake last year, and its basement was often filled with water.
Making a surprise visit to the ESI hospital and Regional Provident Fund Commissioner''s (RPFC) office, Verma, who recently took over as labour minister, said "I am shocked to see the hospital''s condition.The hospital building looks structurally weak and I am surprised that it was able to withstand the shock of the earthquake".
Verma asked medical superintendent G G Purohit to immediately summon the building contractor. There was a basic design fault in the hospital building, he said. When Purohit said that repair works were on, the minister asked him to immediately stop them and instead demolish the entire hospital building, as it looked dangerous.
Staff at both the ESI hospital and RPFC office were surprised at the sudden visit of the union minister, who asked officials to take action against late comers.
Verma was informed by ESI officials that the ESI hospital was facing shortage in medical, administrative and paramedical staff. Later, Verma made a second visit at the RPFC''s office, having to go without meeting anyone earlier because he had arrived even before the office began.
Describing his visit as "a learning process as he had just taken over as minister", Verma held a meeting with provident fund commissioners, labour commissioners and ESI Corporation officials at the RPFC''s office.
Verma inquired from officials regarding problems of respective departments. Labour commissioners informed him that there were vacancies at various levels, which was affecting the efficiency of the respective departments. Of the sanctioned strength of 16 assistant commissioners, there were only 10, and 107 vacancies existed in the posts of lower division clerks and upper division clerks in the labour department offices in Gujarat.
The regional provident fund commissioner P D Sankla said computerisation had brought in transparency in the system adding that the status of settlement claims could now be known by the subscriber over the telephone.
The union minister said the ESI and provident fund schemes should be made into a model system because their beneficiaries were poor people. He asked the EPF commissioners "why can''t you give 50 or 75 per cent of the provident fund money to the next of kin or dependent of a subscriber within 24 hours of his death."