Member of Parliament Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu has asked the Labour Ministry to pay two months’ wages of employees from the reserves of Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) as immediate relief to about 3.5 crore workers who have not been paid their wages during the current lockdown.

In a letter to Minister of Labour and Employment Santosh Gangwar, the young MP from Andhra Pradesh has said that ESIC is sitting on reserves of Rs 84,000 crore with 70 per cent of the funds not earmarked for any purpose.

This, he said, could provide two months’ salary to 3.5 crore employees registered under ESI scheme who are facing starvation due to non-payment of wages during the current Covid-19 outbreak.

“Government of India has declared Covid-19 as national disaster and imposed nationwide lockdown which may also be extended for a further period. The workers are suffering due to lockdown. If one closely looks at the ESI Act, it permits payment of 70 per cent of average daily wage for non-employment due to sickness and since Covid-19 has been declared as a pandemic, there is every justification in paying salaries for them for the lockdown period or till they go for their work,” Devarayalu has said in his letter to the minister.

The YSR Congress Party MP, who is also a member of standing committee on Human Resource Development, has told the minister that using ESIC money to pay two months’ wages to workers will boost their morale, bring some financial sta bility and also reduce the worry for companies.

He said that officials should be instructed to immediately release two months’ wages to prevent sufferings of workers from aggravating further.

At the end of FY19, ESIC had total reserves of Rs 84,000 crore. Two months wages to 3.5 crore ESI subscriber workers would mean an expenditure of Rs 70,000 crore at the rate of Rs 10,000 per worker per month. This, the MP has said, would still leave ESIC with Rs 14,000 crores in its reserve.