New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday flagged deficiencies within the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and said the government should, at the very least, accord respect and support to the brave armed forces personnel who sacrifice everything for the country.
Gandhi said that a few days ago, he met ex-servicemen who were injured in the line of duty while defending the nation at the 'Jansansad'.
"They highlighted serious deficiencies within the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), such as delays in reimbursement, shortages of medicines, hospitals refusing treatment, or being dropped from the scheme due to the non-payment of outstanding dues," the Leader of Opposition said in a Facebook post in Hindi.
More than 72 lakh ex-servicemen and their families rely on this scheme for their healthcare needs, Gandhi pointed out.
"When I raised this issue in Parliament, the Modi government attempted to evade my questions. The government possesses no information regarding the outstanding dues, nor has it provided any clear explanation for the delays - merely acknowledging that such delays do occur," he said.
The CAG recently observed that the ECHS is not receiving adequate funding; yet, the government refused to explain why the necessary funds for ex-servicemen's healthcare are not being allocated, Gandhi said.
"They also ignored my question regarding tax exemptions for disabled ex-servicemen. Meanwhile, the Finance Bill proposes that if a soldier chooses to continue in service, their disability pension will be subject to taxation," he said, adding that this move amounts to penalising those soldiers who continue to serve the nation.
"Our brave armed forces sacrifice everything for the country. The government should, at the very least, accord them the respect and support they truly deserve," Gandhi said and shared his questions posed to the government in the Lok Sabha.
Gandhi had asked the Minister of Defence as to whether the government has made budgetary allocations under the ECHS during the last ten years and if so, the details thereof, including year-wise overall budget allocation, the total dues pending, the new dues being added annually and the shortfall therein.
Gandhi had also asked whether the recent audit report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out a failure to provide ECHS with the required budgetary allocations and if so, the details thereof and the reasons for it.
He further asked about the steps taken by the government to ensure that veterans are not denied medical treatment due to pending dues under ECHS and whether there exists any differentiation in income tax exemption on disability pension for different categories of ex-servicemen with disability and if so, the details thereof and the rationale behind it.
Gandhi had also questioned whether the government proposes to restore full income tax exemption on disability pension for all disabled ex-servicemen; and, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor.
In his written response, Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth said the ECHS provides cashless and capless healthcare to ex-servicemen and other eligible beneficiaries through a wide network of polyclinics and empanelled hospitals.
The number of ECHS polyclinics and empanelled hospitals under the ECHS has grown over the last few years to provide better healthcare to its beneficiaries, the minister said.
While sharing the budget allocation for ECHS for the last 10 years is enclosed as annexure, the minister said the processing of medical bills of empanelled hospitals and individual beneficiaries is a dynamic and time taking process.
"Normally, bills generated in the last months of any financial year gets cleared in the next financial year. This results in some cyclic carry forward liability. Further, since the annual ECHS expenditure is growing year on year, occasional constraints in fund flow may, at times impact the payment cycle. Continuous efforts are made to manage resources optimally and to address issues in coordination with the concerned stakeholders, so as to ensure uninterrupted medical services to ECHS beneficiaries," Seth said.
He also said that Income Tax is not being deducted from disability pension and superannuated/retired pensioners in receipt of applicable disability compensation in addition to retiring/service pension in compliance with a Supreme Court Order.
The exemption in respect of disability pension received by members of the armed forces who are invalided out of service on account of a disability attributable to or aggravated by military service has existed since the framework under the Income Tax-Act, 1922, he said.
"When the Income Tax Act, 1961 came into force, the exemption continued through the repeal and savings provisions. With the enactment of Income-Tax Act, 2025, the earlier enactments pertaining to Income-Tax Act, 1922 and related savings provisions ceased to operate. Therefore, in the absence of an express provisions in the new Act, the exemption would have lapsed.
"The present provision has been included to ensure the continuation of the same exemption that existed earlier, including its scope and conditions," the minister had said in his response.