The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has been building up healthcare infrastructure while also pulling more people into its social security coverage, largely through the Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees, or SPREE 2025. Running from July 2025 to January 2026, the scheme gave employers and employees in the organised sector, people who’d somehow been left out of ESI coverage, a one-time window to register without worrying about retrospective liabilities or penalties.
By January 31, 2026, the results were substantial: 1,38,718 new employers and 1,12,72,772 employees had come under the ESI scheme, a meaningful expansion of who the programme actually reaches.
Healthcare infrastructure gets a nationwide push
ESIC hasn’t stopped at registration numbers. The Corporation has been working on several fronts to improve healthcare access for its beneficiaries: adding hospital beds, buying newer medical equipment, setting up ICUs and High Dependency Units, and bringing new hospitals and dispensaries online.
Specialised care has expanded too, through empanelling private and super-specialty hospitals so beneficiaries aren’t limited to ESIC’s own facilities. On the digital side, ESIC has rolled out online OPD appointment booking, Aadhaar-based authentication for delivering benefits, and online submission of cash benefit claims, changes meant to make the whole system easier to actually use.
Working with Ayushman Bharat, upgrading hospitals
Where ESIC’s own healthcare facilities fall short, the Corporation has partnered with Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana to cover secondary and tertiary medical services. It’s a practical fix for gaps in coverage rather than waiting to build out infrastructure everywhere.
On the ground, new or upgraded hospitals have opened in Ompora in Jammu & Kashmir, Doddaballapur in Karnataka, Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, and Surat in Gujarat. Existing hospitals in Sanath Nagar in Telangana, Beltola in Assam, and Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh have also been expanded, aimed at giving insured workers and their families better access to care closer to home.
Key Takeaway: SPREE 2025 has pulled over 1.38 lakh employers and 1.12 crore employees into ESI’s social security net, a substantial jump in coverage. Paired with ESIC’s ongoing work on hospital infrastructure, digital services, and its partnership with AB-PMJAY, the changes point toward a system that’s reaching more people and making it somewhat easier for them to actually get care once they’re covered.
MCQ’s:
1. The SPREE 2025 scheme was launched primarily to:
A. Provide free health insurance to all citizens
B. Encourage registration of employers and employees under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme without retrospective liabilities or penalties
C. Increase pension benefits under EPFO
D. Promote private health insurance in rural areas
2. Which organisation administers the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Scheme in India?
A. Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
B. National Health Authority (NHA)
C. Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)
D. Ministry of Finance
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