Dakshina Kannada MP Captain Brijesh Chowta.
| Photo Credit: File photo
Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Captain Brijesh Chowta has written to Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya urging the early approval of nominees for the newly constituted Karnataka ESI Society to enable the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to take over the ESI Hospital in Mangaluru.
The move comes after a prolonged delay in the formation of the Karnataka ESI Society despite repeated correspondence from the ESIC headquarters. According to Capt. Chowta, the Director General of ESIC wrote multiple times to the Karnataka government seeking the constitution of the society, an essential prerequisite for ESIC to assume control of the ESI hospitals in the State. However, the matter remained pending for several months without a response.
Recognising the importance of the ESI hospital in Mangaluru and the dilapidated state of the hospital, Capt. Chowta met the Director General, ESIC, Delhi, in February 2025 and requested his intervention to address the administrative bottleneck. Subsequently, Capt. Chowta raised the matter with Santosh Lad, Karnataka Minister for Labour, after which the Mangaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath also met Mr. Lad and urged him to expedite the formation of the society.
Following this, the State government formed the society and sent the list of nominees to the Union government for approval.
In his letter dated October 31, 2025, to Mr. Mandaviya, the Member of Parliament said that the ESI Hospital in Mangaluru serves nearly 2.5 lakh insured persons across Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, and Kodagu districts and parts of Kasaragod district in Kerala. Despite having 100 beds, the hospital continues to face staff shortages and limited infrastructure, affecting service delivery to insured workers and their families.
“The 100-bed hospital has a staff strength of four, wherein at least 30 are required to efficiently run the hospital, making it severely understaffed and compromising the quality of healthcare delivery,” the letter stated.
Capt. Chowta said that an early approval from the Centre and ESIC’s subsequent takeover of the hospital will pave the way for better management, fund utilisation, and service delivery.
Published – November 03, 2025 08:35 pm IST
