Ministry of Labour and Employment organized a felicitation event today to honour and appreciate the hard work and consistent efforts put in by COVID-19 warriors of Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) office, Employees Provident Fund Organisation and Employees State Insurance Corporation.

The Minister of State (I/C) Sh. Santosh Kumar Gangwar awarded Certificates of Appreciation to acknowledge the dedication and high degree of professionalism exhibited by officials and Regional Offices of these organisations. The Minister stated that the Ministry undertook historic steps for the betterment of workers and the industry. He further stated that Rs. 5 thousand crore has been deposited in the bank accounts of 2 crore construction workers. He elaborated that CLC(c) had deputed 80 officers to ensure smooth implementation of the same. Nodal officers of ESIC and EPFO along with their regional offices were working day and night to to redress the problems faced by the workers. The minister went on to submit that via 20 control rooms about 16 thousand complaints were received of which 96 per cent were resolved in a time bound manner by CLC(c) , EPFO and ESIC. He expressed gratitude towards all officers, officials and regional offices of these three organizations for their collective dedication. Sh. Gangwar shared that 23 ESIC hospitals have now been declared as covid-19 hospitals consisting of 2600 isolation beds, more than 555 ICU beds and more than 213 ventilators. Minister highlighted EPFO’s initiative of special COVID-19 claim wherein over Rs.12, 000 crore were disbursed against over 47 lakh covid claims by its subscribers during Covid pandemic.

Sh. Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment lauded the exemplary efforts of the officers and officials of all the three organizations. He expressed his satisfaction at the unflinching enthusiasm with which each officer and regional office went beyond their call of duty to tide over these difficult times in face of COVID-19. He noted that Rs. 5 thousand crore was deposited in the bank accounts of 2 crore construction workers for which  CLC(C) had deputed 80 officers to ensure smooth implementation. Nodal officers of ESIC and EPFO along with their regional offices worked day and night to redress the problems faced by the workers. He also underscored the achievement of prompt grievance resolution through 20 control rooms set up by CLC(C).

He congratulated Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC) as EPFO offices across the country for speedy settlement of claims using innovative measures like auto-settlement mode and multi-location claim and for ensuring COVID-19 claims settlement within 72 hours with less than 50 percent staff. Shri Chandra commended the hard work and efforts put in by all the ESIC officers and said that all the ESIC hospitals were provisioned with exclusive Covid care beds, ICU Beds, and undertook tests for Covid-19, plasma transfusion, RTPCR tests, etc. ESIC Regional Offices worked round the clock for redressing grievances of Insured Persons/Beneficiaries/ Stakeholders.

Sh. DPS Negi, CLC (C), Sh. Sunil Barthwal, CPFC and Smt. Anuradha Prasad DG, ESIC highlighted the initiatives and achievements of their respective organisations in detail. Sh. DPS Negi, CLC (C) that keeping in view the lockdown 20 control rooms were established in 20 regional offices of the CLC(C) organization as per the direction of the Minister under the direct supervision of CLC(C). He further stated that the control rooms functioned on a 24X7 basis. The field officers were asked to resolve the complaint through persuasion within 72 hours. The employers were contacted through telephone/email and video conferencing to resolve the grievances. Sh. Negi stated that with the intervention of control rooms, the Government was not only able to facilitate disbursal of Rs. 2,95,33,43,880/- as wages to 1,86,365 workers of Central Sphere but also facilitated disbursement of Rs. 2,63,73,458/- as wages to 3,863 workers working in the State Sphere. The CLC(C) shared that the Control Rooms also coordinated with State Authorities in case of distress calls were received from migrant workers regarding food, shelter, ration etc.

Shri Sunil Barthwal, Central Provident Fund Commissioner (CPFC), stated that EPFO geared itself to meet the pressing needs of its stakeholders who were facing myriad problems, unprecedented in nature. He elaborated that Special Covid-19 Advance, as a part of PMGKY scheme, under Para 68L provision was made for non-refundable advance from EPF account to EPF members, employed in any factory or establishment located in an area, which was declared to be affected by outbreak of epidemic or pandemic by the Appropriate Govt. EPFO offices across the country have settled 47.58 lakh COVID-19 advance claims, disbursing an amount of Rs. 12,220.26 crores to claimants. Innovative measures like auto-settlement mode and multi-location claim settlement were deployed overnight to ensure that COVID-19 claims are settled within 72 hours despite deployment of less than 50 percent staff. He stated that during the pandemic period from April to September 2020, a total of 19.20 lakh claims were filed online through UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) App. This was a mammoth 274% increase compared to pre-Covid 19 period from October 2019 to March 2020. Sh. Barthwal shared that EPFO won Digital Technology Sabha Award for developing Auto claim settlement process to respond to need during the pandemic. This project was developed in house and it helped to bring down Covid-19 claim settlement time to 72 hrs.

Smt. Anuradha Prasad, Director General, ESIC explained the initiatives and accomplishments of ESIC. Smt. Prasad highlighted that hospitals were provisioned with exclusive Covid care beds, ICU Beds, undertaking of tests for Covid-19, plasma transfusion, RTPCR tests, etc. ESIC Regional Offices too worked round the clock for redressing grievances of Insured Persons/Beneficiaries/Stakeholders. Numerous cases were resolved with adherence to stipulated timelines. Quality of disposal was precise and data reporting was kept accurate; innovation and creative measures were initiated for resolving complaints. Further, Smt. Prasad explained that continuous co-ordination with the state authorities in resolving the issues pertaining to the state sphere engendered team spirit and led to positive results.

It was underlined that only due to the collective efforts of the officers and staff deputed in all three organizations that these initiatives could be successfully implemented.

List of Awardees of Office of Central Labour Commissioner (Central), CLC(C):

1. Shri Santosh Mahur, LEO(C), CLC (C) (HQ)

2. CLC(C) Regional Office, Chennai

3. CLC (C) Regional Office, Kolkata

4. CLC (C) Regional Office, Cochin

List of Awardees from Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO):

1. Shri Rupershwar Singh, RPFC-1, EPFO (HQ)

2. EPFO Regional Office, Delhi (Central)

3. EPFO Regional Office, Delhi (East)

4. EPFO Regional Office, K.R Puram, Bangaluru

List of Awardees from Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC):

1. Shri S. L. Meena, DD, ESIC (HQ)

2. ESIC Regional Office, Odisha

3. ESIC Regional Office, Maharashtra

4. ESIC Regional Office, Delhi

5. ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Faridabad

6. ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Sanathnagar

7. ESIC Medical College & PGIMSR and Model Hospital, Rajajnagar

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RCJ/RNM/IA