Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 13: In order to encourage the employers to register themselves under the provisions of ESI Act, a scheme for Promoting Regis-tration of Employers and Employees, namely; SPREE, has been launched by the Corporation, which shall remain open upto March 31, 2017.
This was informed by M K Arya, Regional Director, Jammu & Kashmir region of ESIC (Employees’ State Ins-urance Corporation).
Highlighting the salient feature of the said scheme, he informed that the drive SPREE intended to extend social security benefits to all eligible workers under the Act, who have till now been kept out of the ESI coverage. “This is one time opportunity to the employers to register themselves under the provisions of the ESI Act 1948. The advantage of the said scheme to the employers is that those registered during the period will be treated as covered from the date of registration or as declared by them without attracting liability for the past period even if the Act was applicable retrospectively,” he explained.
Arya also informed that the Central Government has recently enhanced the threshold wage ceiling for coverage of workers under the ESI scheme from the existing Rs 15,000/- per month to Rs 21,000/- per month w.e.f. 1st of January, 2017 because of which the insurable population covered under the scheme is likely to further increase. It was also revealed by him that at present, the ESI scheme has been fully implemented in 8 districts in the J&K State and now the matter is under process actively for also extending the scheme fully in the remaining 14 districts of the State, including 2 districts of Ladakh division, namely Leh and Kargil, 7 districts of Kashmir division namely Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Bara-mulla & Kupwara and 5 districts of Jammu division namely Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar where survey of units / establishments has already been done by ESIC and arrangements for medical services have also been made and confirmed for upcoming Insured Persons. Besides, in order to cater new business establishments and to the newly surveyed IP population and their families at district level itself, the ESIC J&K region has a plan to open two district offices each at Udhampur and Rajouri districts and subsequently two more district offices are also proposed to be opened, one each at Srinagar and Leh besides opening of one branch office each at Poonch, Ramban, Leh and Kargil in future.
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