Consider the following: 1) Hotels and restaurants 2) Motor transport undertakings 3) Newspaper establishments 4) Private medical institutions The employees of which of the above can have the 'Social Security' coverage under Employees' State Insurance Scheme?

All four are covered, so D is correct. The ESI Act, 1948 applies to employees in factories and in the notified employments listed in Schedule I of the Act. Schedule I lists all four types here. Coverage applies where an establishment employs 10 or more persons and the employee's wages fall within the prescribed ceiling.

• 1. Hotels and restaurants, including refreshment rooms, boarding houses and clubs, are in Schedule I.
• 2. Motor transport undertakings are listed in Schedule I.
• 3. Newspaper establishments, as defined under the Working Journalists Act, are listed in Schedule I.
• 4. Private medical institutions are covered, which is why private hospitals and clinics fall under ESI.

Core concept: ESI is a contributory health and sickness benefit scheme. Coverage follows the type of employment and the wage ceiling, not the ownership of the establishment. For Mains, this links to the formal and informal workforce divide and the case for extending social security. The wage ceiling was raised from Rs 15,000 to Rs 21,000 per month in 2017, so check current limits.

Trap: Many aspirants assume ESI applies only to factories and pick A or C, forgetting that Schedule I extends it to service sectors. The question asks who "can have" coverage, which is about eligibility, not whether every such firm is actually covered.