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 beneficiaries in Punjab are currently provided through the ESIC Medical College and Hospital at Ludhiana, the ESIC Hospital at Ram Darbar in Chandigarh, six state-run ESI hospitals located in Mohali, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Mandi Gobindgarh and Phagwara, 69 state-run ESI dispensaries, and three ESIC dispensary-cum-branch offices at Rajpura, Barnala and Ferozepur. Employees' State Insurance (ESI) is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for workers in the organised sector. Administered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) under the ministry of labour and employment, the scheme provides comprehensive benefits, including medical care, sickness and maternity benefits, disability compensation, dependent benefits in case of employment-related deaths, and other social security measures. htc...