Page 76 - DMGT306_MERCANTILE_LAWS_II

Unit 4: The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948: Definitions, Scope and Objective

Wages Notes

“Wages” means all remuneration paid in cash if the terms of the contract are fulfilled, and
includes any payment in any period of authorised leave, lockout or strike which is not illegal or
lay-off, and includes other remuneration paid at intervals not exceeding two months but does
not include

(i) Contribution paid to the provident fund or pension fund;
(ii) Travelling allowance or value of travelling concession;
(iii) Sum paid to defray special expenses; and

(iv) Gratuity payable on discharge.



Caselet Endless Wait at Noida ESI Hospital
P atients at the Model Hospital in Noida of the Employees' State Insurance Corporation
face queues that sometimes don't end.

Every day many in the lines at the Outpatient Department (OPD) go back home because
their turn didn't come – and are compelled to visit again another day. Pregnant women
have a particularly bad time.

They are seen standing in the queue for long hours to get their registration done for a
check-up as the hospital doesn't allow male family members to stand in line for them.
"Husband or family members accompanying the patients are treated as cattle class. No
matter how ill a woman is, the hospital has made it compulsory for them to stand in the
registration queue," said Vimal Kumar, who came for his wife's treatment.
"I came to the hospital at around 6.30 am from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and my wife had to
stand in the queue for almost two hours to get the registration done," he added.

Ill-treatment
When Mohammad Arif, who was accompanying his sick wife, questioned this rule, a
security guard abused and asked him to go away basic information, like locating a doctor's
cabin.
Such is the rush at the OPD that many patients who come from faraway places return
without consulting doctors after waiting for six to seven hours.
"I came in the morning at 9 am. Then I had to stand in the queue for almost two and half
hours for the registration. When my turn came around 5 p.m., the security guard asked me
whether I had got my weight and blood pressure checked," said a seven-month-old pregnant
Roji Kumari.
"I forcibly entered the room but doctor asked me to come back after getting these
check-ups done. So I left the hospital without treatment," she said.
She was not alone, and around 20 to 30 patients shared her plight. Some of them had been
trying to meet the doctor for a week.

Contd....

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