CHANDIGARH, July 28 -- The Centre has accorded in-principle approval for setting up three new Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals in Punjab at Lalru, Rajpura and Malerkotla, a move aimed at strengthening healthcare services for insured workers and their families across the state.

Punjab currently has around 11.73 lakh workers covered under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) scheme, with the total number of beneficiaries, including their dependants, exceeding 53.75 lakh.

The information was shared in Parliament on Monday by Union minister of state for labour and employment Shobha Karandlaje while replying to a question raised by Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

The minister said medical services for ESIC ben...