Above what salary does ESIC not cover?

Appeared in: MP CHO-2020

Explanation

The Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Act, 1948, provides social security benefits to employees in India.
According to the regulations, the scheme is applicable only to employees whose monthly wages are Rs. 21,000 or less.
This wage ceiling was revised by the ESIC and became effective from 1st January 2017.
Therefore, any employee earning a salary above Rs. 21,000 per month is not eligible for coverage under the ESIC scheme.

Option A: This amount is below the current wage ceiling. An employee earning Rs. 19,000 per month is eligible for ESIC benefits.
Option B: This amount is also below the wage limit. An employee earning Rs. 20,000 per month is covered by the ESIC scheme.
Option D: While an employee earning Rs. 22,000 is not covered, the question asks for the specific threshold above which coverage stops. That threshold is Rs. 21,000.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain ESIC wage ceiling for employee coverage as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Hospital administrators and nursing managers must verify the ESIC eligibility of new employees based on the Rs. 21,000 salary threshold to ensure correct payroll deductions and benefit administration.
Nursing staff can play a role in guiding eligible colleagues on how to obtain their 'Pehchan' card and access medical services at designated ESI dispensaries or hospitals.
What if? If an employee is a person with a disability, the wage eligibility limit is increased to Rs. 25,000 per month, expanding coverage for this specific group of workers.

How to Approach the Question

This is a factual recall question based on a specific government social security scheme.
Identify the core of the question, which is the 'ESIC salary limit' for coverage.
Recall the specific monetary value associated with this wage ceiling from your knowledge of labor laws and social security schemes in India.
Scan the options to find the one that matches the known wage ceiling.
Confirm your understanding of the question's phrasing: 'Above what salary' points to the upper limit of the eligibility bracket, which is Rs. 21,000.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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E6 Parks TextBook of Preventive & Social Medicine part 2 — Subpart B (pp 233-449 of 464) p. 133-135

Practise the full MP CHO-2020

Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.