'Improve ECHS if you care for veterans': Ex-Navy officer flags unpaid hospital bills, disrupted care

A former Indian Navy officer has urged the government to urgently fix what he described as serious failures in the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). "If Govt genuinely cares for Military Veterans (Ex-Servicemen) then Govt must take urgent steps to improve the functioning of ECHS (Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme) and ensure adequate resources," Vikram W Karve, a retired naval officer, said on Tuesday. "Good Hospitals must be empanelled by ECHS and bills paid in a timely manner."

On December 10, former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash highlighted the situation in Goa, where thousands of veterans had reportedly been left without medical support. In a tweet, Prakash wrote: "Over 10,000 ex-Servicemen in Goa, left high & dry by ECHS, as scheme runs out of medicine & sole empanled civil hospital withdraws service due non-payment of bills. For 3rd time in 2025 funds blocked by MoD, causing extreme distress to the old & sick."

On Tuesday again, Prakash criticised the scheme itself, stating that even when the scheme was compulsory, there was no obligation on the Ministry of Defence for its uninterrupted functioning.

"ECHS, seems an unusual & arbitrary scheme! Membership is 'compulsory' & 'contributors' cough up between Rs 30,000 & 1,20,000 as fee for healthcare. But there is, apparently, no obligation on MoD/DESW to ensure uninterrupted functioning of scheme via empaneled hospitals?" he wrote.

Other retired officers, too, flagged similar concerns, questioning why payments to hospitals were being blocked despite the impact on veterans. Kewal Chopra, another former naval officer, wrote: "How does blocking of payments to the only empanelled Hospital does any good to MOD? Knowing fully well, this act is jeopardizing health issues of thousands of ESM, DG ECHS should empanel more hospitals. Meanwhile, stop present practice of blocking payments to the only Hospital."

Former Army brigadier Kuldeep Singh pointed to what he described as a systemic issue. "It's like any other service in India - the govt collects taxes, at times forcibly - but is under NIL obligation to provide it’s citizenry even a modicum of any service," he wrote.

ECHS is a contributory healthcare scheme under the Ministry of Defence, with membership mandatory for retired armed forces personnel. Veterans pay a one-time contribution based on rank to access treatment at empanelled civil and military hospitals.