Mohali, Aug. 8 -- The The Mohali Industries Association has levelled serious allegations against the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), regional office, Chandigarh, accusing it of systematically denying legitimate medical claims and delaying financial benefits to insured workers and their families despite regular contributions under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Scheme. Addressing a press conference, the association members alleged that the situation worsened since the appointment of regional director Deepak Malik in April this year, claiming that insured workers and employers were facing unnecessary hurdles in securing benefits guaranteed under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948. The ESI Act is a social security legislation that provides workers with medical, maternity and employment injury benefits. The scheme is mandatory for factories employing 10 or more workers, with employees earning up to Rs.21,000 per month covered under the scheme. Employers and employees together contribute 4 per cent towards the ESI fund. Advocate Jasbir Singh, chairman of the ESI, PF and Labour Laws Committee of MIA, alleged that legitimate medical reimbursement claims were routinely being rejected on technical grounds. He claimed that families of deceased insured workers were facing prolonged delays in receiving dependent benefits, while excessive documentation was being demanded, creating unnecessary red tape. He further alleged that workers and employer representatives were often met with an uncooperative attitude by ESIC officials. According to the association, more than 10 dependent benefit cases relating to workers who died due to employment injuries have remained pending for the past eight to nine months because of repeated demands for additional documents allegedly made on the instructions of the regional director. Association's general secretary Rakesh Vig said a delegation met regional director Deepak Malik on July 8, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Malik said, "The claims made by the MIA are factually incorrect. Since I assumed charge as regional director in April, the backlog has been brought down substantially, from nearly 800 pending cases to around 50 within three months. At present, most cases are being approved in 15 days. We are working to further reduce the turnaround time to just seven days." The association said nearly 3.8 lakh insured persons are covered under the ESI scheme in Mohali, yet the city has only a 30-bed ESI Hospital. Terming it inadequate, the assocation said the facility should be a 400-bed hospital....