Guwahati, Nov 16 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli on Tuesday kickstarted construction work for the expansion of the ESIC Model Hospital here. Unveiling a plaque to mark the commencement of expansion of the hospital, the minister said the estimated cost of the project would be Rs 143 crore, a PIB release said. Currently, the hospital in the Beltola area of the city has 75 beds and it will be increased to 200 beds. He said initially this hospital, which is the only Model Hospital run by Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) in the entire North East, used to provide treatment facilities to the insured people of Assam. Now it also caters to the people of other states like Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, and Mizoram, Teli said. With the Assam government approving a proposal to hand over the ESI Hospital in Tinsukia to ESIC, it will be able to provide modern and better treatment facilities to people through ESIC under the Labour Department, the Union minister said. He also appealed to workers to register in the e-SHRAM portal for availing benefits meant for them and launched the distribution of e-SHRAM cards to the beneficiaries of the unorganised sector, the release said. The Union Ministry of Labour and Employment had launched the e-SHRAM portal in August this year for the welfare of 38 crore unorganised workers of the country who are not covered under social security schemes like PF and ESIC. Teli also handed over ESIC COVID-19 Relief Scheme certificates to eligible dependents of insured persons who have died due to the infection, it added. PTI SSG MM MM