In the modern dynamic world, every process in the industrial units is mechanized. Naturally, due to mechanization, chances for occurrence of accidents or employment injury also are high. So various social security measures have been implemented in India as well as in foreign countries. Japan was the first Asian country to establish a Social Security Program from the year 1922.
Only after independence, India has passed several Acts relating to social security. The Employees' State Insurance Scheme (ESI) is one of its kind. The Employees' State Insurance bill was passed in Parliament on April 19, 1948. At the first stage, the ESI was introduced in two important cities viz., Kanpur and Delhi on February 24, 1952. Then the Scheme was extended to all industrial centers all over India.
The ESI is a unique multidimensional self-financing social security scheme in which every contributor is a benefactor and also a beneficiary. This integrated scheme of health insurance provides comprehensive medical cover and cash benefits in contingencies of sickness, maternity, disablement and death due to employment injury to the insured persons and their dependents. The Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 provided the conceptual break, through the development of a social security scheme that has over the years metamorphosed into the country's largest worker welfare program in terms of geographical reach, demographic coverage and multi-faceted services. The scheme today is a national one and also one of the largest social security programs in the world. |
