Health Minister promises Essentiality Certificate for ESI Hospital

Health Minister K. Muraleedharan has assured that priority will be given to issuing the State government’s Essentiality Certificate required to upgrade Asramam ESI Model and Super Speciality Hospital into a Medical College.

N. K. Premachandran, MP, had previously accused the State Health Department of sabotaging the ₹600-crore Centrally funded project by withholding the crucial certificate.

“The Minister has promised to fast-track and prioritize the issuance of the mandatory Essentiality Certificate from the State government,” said the MP after submitting a formal memorandum for the same.

He pointed out that the ESI Corporation had initiated steps for the upgrade, aiming to start the medical college during the 2026–27 academic year

. According to Mr. Premachandran, the State government had purposely delayed taking a decision on the file until the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) original application deadline expired.

“After the NMC extended the deadline I had a discussion with the Chief Minister, but even after that there was no progress. It was an anti-labour move that harmed workers and their children,” he said.

However, the previous State administration had strongly defended its caution, pointing to severe infrastructural deficits at the facility. According to official reports, the Director of Medical Education (DME) had conducted an inspection at the hospital on January 19 under instructions from the State government.

The inspection revealed that apart from the temporary appointment of a Dean from the Chennai ESI Hospital, the facility lacked virtually all structural requirements mandated by the National Medical Commission. The DME’s report highlighted that there were no adequate classrooms, no administrative block, no basic amenities, and absolutely no recruitment of necessary teaching or non-teaching staff.

The previous administration maintained that it was willing to grant permission, but only after the ESI Corporation actively established the required facilities. The officials said the State government had formally communicated these deficiencies to the hospital superintendent, warning that granting an Essentiality Certificate under such conditions would backfire.

They argued that enrolling students without basic infrastructure would inevitably lead to the National Medical Commission canceling the college’s accreditation altogether.