Click to play videoNew Delhi: A flagship healthcare scheme - the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Healthcare Scheme (ECHS) for ex-servicemen is on the brink of collapse simply because the armed forces aren't clearing the bills.
With the Sixth Pay Commission grouse still fresh, there is another grim reminder of an initiative meant for the welfare of ex-servicemen virtually on the brink of a collapse.
Colonel Jitendar Singh served the country with pride for decades wearing his beloved olive greens, secure in the belief that he would be taken care of in his older days.
But today, Col Singh's amputated leg tells a story of betrayal of the Indian soldier.
The critically ill from among India's 2 million ex-servicemen and their families have nowhere to go to as the ambitious healthcare scheme for ex-servicemen is on the brink of collapse.
Col. Singh says, "Gangrene had not set in then. It had set after the delay Apollo Hospital caused. And when we said we are ECHS members and our bills would be paid by the army, they said no. "We have now cut off the Indian Army'."
The reason for his agony is that leading hospitals have pulled out of ECHS because of enormous outstanding payments. These empanelled hospitals provided specialist care to the critically ill veterans.
"Bills over Rs 4 lakh take as much as nine months to clear. Bills over Rs 5 lakh have never been cleared," Jasbir Grewal, VP Operations, Fortis, says.
The Army itself admits that the health scheme needs life support.
It acknowledges that routine bills take two-three months for clearance. Bills over Rs 5 lakh require Defence Ministry approval, which takes a minimum of six months. Only 6 lakh out of 20 lakh ex-servicemen have enlisted reflecting lack of confidence in the scheme.
And if that's not all, there is another nail in the coffin.
The abysmally low payment rates of Central Government Health Scheme to which the scheme is tied rule out quality medical care.
"Hospitals have always been loath to accept these rates. I can't understand why Army can't have its own rates," Major General (Retd) Kuldip Sindhu, former MD, ECHS, says.
It's a 'crying emergency' situation for ECHS as after five years of completion it was expected of the scheme to have over come the difficulties in its implementation.
But the disharmony between the hands holding the scheme together has only become more conspicuous over these years.
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