ESIC's Project Panchdeep powered by Wipro achieves first milestone

Online, August 25, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Wipro Infotech, the India and Middle East IT Business of Wipro Ltd and a leading provider of IT and business transformation services, today announced that the first set of Pehchan cards would be distributed to the beneficiaries of the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). ESIC is a statutory corporation, under the Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India (GoI), and is the implementing agency of a pioneering Social Security Scheme in India. Wipro had been selected to implement ESIC's Project Panchdeep-the IT rollout project aimed at providing hassle-free services to its various stakeholders. This contract, undoubtedly the largest E-Governance contract worth Rs. 1,182 crore was won by Wipro in March 2009.
Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Honorable Minister for Labour & Employment, Govt. of India will release the first set of 'PEHCHAN' Identity Cards for distribution to ESIC beneficiaries on 25th August, 2009 at 3.00 P.M. in a glittering ceremony at Ambedkar Bhavan in Bangalore.
Project Panchdeep has five important components namely Pehchan, Milap, Pashan, Dhanwantri and Pragati. Project Pehchan comprises all services related to identification, authentication and verification of Insured Persons (IPs). The objective of this Project is to provide a pair of magnetic plastic cards to all Insured Persons as well as to their family members. With this Card, an Insured Person or his family members may step in to any ESI Dispensaries, ESI Hospitals, ESI Branch Offices during working hours and avail hassle free facilities/services. One card with Insured Person and another with family would enable the family to avail treatment even when they are away at different locations. The card will have the photographs of all the family members along with their biometric details stored in it. Around 2.40 crores smart cards would be prepared under this project.

The other four components include Milap for all services related to provisioning network and bandwidth; Pashan for all services related to hardware for Data Centre, Disaster Recovery, desktops/PCs/Laptops and middleware; Dhanwantri for all services related to hospitals and dispensaries; and Pragati for all services related to ERP modules. All these services would be delivered across 2220 locations spanning the country.
Anand Sankaran, Senior Vice President & Head- India and Middle East, Wipro Infotech said: "It is really a momentous occasion for all of us to witness the beginning of an era of digitalized public health services to the masses. Wipro is honored to be a part of this visionary initiative of ESIC. Our commitment to the project despite its unprecedented scale has ensured that we have met