General Awareness and Current Affairs
What is tested
General Awareness blends static general knowledge, Indian polity and economy, and current affairs of roughly the preceding six months. A distinctive share of questions concerns the Employees' State Insurance Corporation itself, because the post sits inside that organisation.
ESIC facts worth memorising
- The Employees' State Insurance Act was passed in 1948; the ESI Scheme was inaugurated in 1952 at Kanpur, where the first dispensary opened.
- ESIC functions under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, headed by a Director General.
- Contribution rates since 1 July 2019: employer 3.25% and employee 0.75% of wages, totalling 4%.
- Wage ceiling for coverage: ₹21,000 per month (₹25,000 for persons with disability).
- Benefits include medical, sickness, maternity, disablement, dependants', funeral, and unemployment allowance under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana.
Worked example
The Employees' State Insurance Act was enacted in which year? Answer: 1948. Many candidates pick 1952 because the scheme began then. Keep 'Act enacted' and 'scheme launched' as two separate entries in your notes.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing ESIC with EPFO, whose Act dates from 1952.
- Ministry mix-ups - Labour and Employment, not Health.
- Revising only the last month of current affairs when the paper spans six.
- Static polity left unrevised: Articles, Schedules, fundamental rights and constitutional bodies are asked directly.
Maintain a one-page ESIC fact sheet and revise it weekly alongside a monthly current-affairs digest.