NEW DELHI: The labour ministry will soon extend its medical coverage benefits to on-site construction workers, a step in the direction to provide social security to a huge section of the unorganized workers.Prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to announce government’s big bang initiative at the upcoming Indian Labour Conference on Monday.The decision to extend the benefits of complete medical care to on-site workers under the ESIC scheme comes just ahead of the monsoon session of the Parliament in which the labour ministry intends to get four key legislations passed despite stiff opposition from trade unions.Currently medical benefits under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation are available to the employees working in the office of construction companies as they are treated as organized workers.However, the large chunk of unorganized workers employed by the same companies on the construction sites are deprived of any medical care, a senior government official told ET.“ESIC is now going to cover the construction site workers under the ESI scheme as they are highly prone to accidents and sickness. This would enable them to avail benefits of complete medical care (from primary to tertiary medical care), as well as a range of cash benefits in times of exigencies of employment injury, death, disablement, maternity and unemployment ,” the official said.According to the official, once the increased coverage of ESIC is announced, ESIC will conduct surveys through its social security officers to determine the number of site workers in India and once the numbers are available, benefits under the scheme would be rolled out to cover the construction site workers.Besides, ESIC will soon launch a 24x7 helpline number for insured persons and their family members who wish to seek advice and guidance from casualty/emergency of ESIC hospitals.Under the ESI scheme, which is part of the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948, government provides full medical care to an insured person and his family from the day he enters insurable employment with no ceiling on the treatment. Besides it provides for sickness benefits in cash at the rate of 70% of wages to the insured person for a maximum of 91 days in a year, 90% of the insured person’s wage as disablement benefits, 90% as dependent benefit as well as Rs 10,000 as funeral benefit to the dependents or whoever performs the last rites of the insured person.ESIC Act applies to premises/precincts where 10 or more persons are employed. The employees drawing wages up to Rs 15,000 a month are entitled to health insurance cover and other benefits, under the ESI Act.Construction industry in India is the second largest employer, after agriculture. It constitutes of largely unorganized workforce (89%), of whom three-fourth are unskilled.