“In one year’s time, we will be in a position to set up medical colleges. This way, we hope to handle the shortage of staff,” said PC Chaturvedi, Director-General, ESI Corporation, at an interactive session organised by the Merchants Chamber of Commerce today.

The ESI Corporation has plans to set up at least one medical college in each state and one is likely to be set up in Kolkata.

The ESI, in a separate move, has also tied up with private hospitals in the city to provide super-speciality care to its employees, which are otherwise not available at its hospitals. A toll-free helpline has also been launched for all stakeholders of ESI Corporation/ Scheme at Kolkata.

In another welfare initiative, the state government will soon launch the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to provide insurance cover to the state's Below Poverty Line (BPL) workers. The health insurance scheme will insure a total of Rs 30,000 per family per annum.

Under the scheme, all BPL families will be covered over the next five years, with the Centre contributing 75 per cent of the premium amount, said Subesh Das, Principal Secretary, Department of Labour.

The rest will be borne by the state government.