India, Aug. 29 -- The Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) was designed as a lifeline - a safety net ensuring that India's veterans, after decades in uniform, would never be denied healthcare. Two decades later, that promise is fraying badly. Across the country, veterans line up outside overcrowded polyclinics, find pharmacies without medicines, and face refusals at empanelled hospitals that have stopped accepting ECHS patients due to unpaid dues.

This is not a fringe complaint. From Punjab to Tamil Nadu, reports of ECHS dysfunction have grown sharper between 2023 and 2025. Parliamentary committee observations echo what veterans say: underfunding, staff shortages, and poor governance have created a chronic crisis.

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