EX-SERVICEMEN CONTRIBUTORY HEALTH SCHEME


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The Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) was launched in April 2003 to provide quality medical care to the Ex-servicemen (ESM) and their dependents. It has 30 Regional Centres (RC) and 433 Polyclinics (PC) pan India including six in Nepal and 3,158 empanelled medical facilities with a total beneficiary base of approximately 55 lakhs. It is structured on the lines of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) to provide cashless and capless medical treatment cover at CGHS rates.

The scheme entitles all ESM drawing pension from Controller of Defence Accounts, including those in receipt of Disability/ Family Pension and their dependents to be eligible for membership. Membership has been made compulsory for all pensioners with effect from 1st April 2003 and is optional for earlier retirees. Over the years, the ECHS membership has been extended to pensioners of Territorial Army (TA), Defence Security Corps (DSC), Uniformed Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Military Nursing Service (MNS), Special Frontier Force (SFF), Nepal Domiciled Gorkha (NDG), Whole time NCC Officers, Eligible Army Postal Service (APS) pensioners, Assam Rifles pensioners, World War (WW) II Veterans, Short Service Commission Officers (SSCOs), Emergency Commissioned Officers (ECOs) & Pre-Mature Retirees.

The amount of contribution for becoming an ECHS member varies from Rs. 30,000/ for recruit to Rs. 1,20,000/ for Officers. The ESM who have retired prior to 1st January 1996, war widows and war disabled including those disabled in internal security duties, are exempted from payment of ECHS contribution.

A total of 3,35,62,481 beneficiaries availed services through ECHS during the last three years:

S No

Calendar Year

Number of Beneficiaries Footfall

(i)

2020

58,80,023

(ii)

2021

1,23,81,583

(iii)

2022

1,53,00,875

 

The amount spent under the scheme during last three Financial Years (FY) is given below:

FY

Expenditure in              Rs. Crores

2020-21

4579.63

2021-22

4864.66

2022-23

(upto 15.03.2023)

4897.64

 

 The details of the hospitals empanelled under echs across the country, state/ut-wise and district-wise including Andhra Pradesh are as follows:

 

S No

State/UT

Number of Empanelled Medical Facilities

1.

Andhra Pradesh

67*

2.

Assam

22

3.

Bihar

40

4.

Chandigarh

39

5.

Chhattisgarh

16

6.

Delhi

274

7.

Goa

04

8.

Gujarat

72

9.

Haryana

368

10.

Himachal Pradesh

50

11.

Jammu

25

12.

Jharkhand

23

13.

Karnataka

133

14.

Kerala

158

15.

Madhya Pradesh

97

16.

Maharashtra

364

17.

Manipur

03

18.

Meghalaya

04

19

Mizoram

05

20.

Nagaland

01

21.

Nepal

16

22.

Orrisa

33

23.

Pondicherry

04

24.

Punjab

338

25.

Rajasthan

259

26.

Sikkim

01

27.

Tamil Nadu

167

28.

Telangana

39

29.

Tripura

05

30.

Uttar Pradesh

388

31.

Uttarakhand

68

32.

West Bengal

75

Total

3,158

 

*  ANDHRA PRADESH (DISTRICT WISE) BREAKDOWN:

S No

District

Number of Empanelled Medical Facilities

1.

Krishna

10

2.

Anantapuram

02

3.

Chittor

05

4.

Eluru

01

5.

West Godavari

03

6.

Guntur

10

7.

Prakashnam

01

8.

Kurnool

01

9.

Nellore

02

10.

Kadapa

02

11.

Visakhapatnam

16

12.

East Godavari

06

13.

Srikakullam

03

14.

Karimnagar

01

15.

Khamman

01

16.

Kakinada

03

Total

67

 

This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Ajay Bhatt in a written reply to Shri mvv Satyanarayana and Shrimati Chinta Anuradha in Lok Sabha today.

*****

ABB/Savvy



Source PIB