The Medical services for ESM are deteriorating by the day. The most affected are the elderly veterans. The medical doctors do not arrive at specified time. ESM feel the heat for the time delay at getting registered which takes anywhere from two to three hours. The procedures smack efficiency. The civilians employed are those who are not trained and are clueless about their nature of tasks. Tokens are given to ESM and one gets a turn/ calling after a 3 to 5 hour wait.
There is utter chaos in the clinic as there about 150 to 200 ESM and dependants found milling in a clinic trying to discover the procedures. The clinic has a space/ seating capacity for about 50 only- literally one has no breathing space- one is likely to get further ill trying to learn the red tape and bureaucracy style of functioning and ever changing set of rules. Many veterans are advised to come the next day. Re- employed administrative officers create more mess and confusion because they are ignorant about the Medical Procedures and sit tight to occupy the high chair and get paid for contributing nothing towards the Welfare of ESM!
The scene depicts a civil Government Primary Health Centre- sans discipline. There is urgent need to set right the mess or else it will decay to a to a state of irretrievable morass. Let us not re-define the acronym ECHS to Enhanced Cargo Handling System!
Report is based on two of my visits one in January and the second one on 04 March 2009.
We request readers inputs regarding status of other ECHS Polyclinics- whether improving or services deteriorating?
Lt Col Kanagaraj James (Retd)
Tailpiece: Before the ECHS system was evolved, MH Chennai provided very efficient services to ESM and dependants without any confusion or complicated procedures. The waiting period for registration was less than 15 minutes in the worst cases. Truly somewhere the ECHS is clogged dispensing poor services to Veterans in their twilight years.
Long live ECHS. The ECHS is dead, almost!
The Army itself admits that the health scheme needs life support. It acknowledges that routine bills take two to three months for clearance. Bills over Rs 5 lakh require Defence Ministry’s approval, which takes a minimum of 6 months.
“Hospitals have always been loathe to accept these rates. I can’t understand why army cant have its own rates,” says former MD, ECHS, Maj. Gen. Kuldip Sindhu.
One doesn’t know whether the Army, which is responsible for running the scheme for the three services and has a serving two-star general heading it, can redeem the situation. It is a difficult task to combat the vested interests of the bureaucrats. Given the supine nature of the military top brass, the situation seems rather hopeless.
ECHS is a disaster?
Related Reading:
ECHS- A Failed Concept A Point of View
Special: Govt health scheme for ex-servicemen a dud: CNN- IBNlive report
Pending bills: Ex-servicemen’s health scheme faces hurdles
Thursday, March 5, 2009
ECHS Chennai- located within the confines of Military Hospital
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The contents posted on these Blogs are personal reflections of the Bloggers and do not reflect the views of the "Report My Signal- Blog" Team.
Neither the "Report my Signal -Blogs" nor the individual authors of any material on these Blogs accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused (including through negligence), which anyone may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of use of or reliance on information contained in or accessed through these Blogs.
This is not an official Blog site. This forum is run by team of ex- Corps of Signals, Indian Army, Veterans for social networking of Indian Defence Veterans. It is not affiliated to or officially recognized by the MoD or the AHQ, Director General of Signals or Government/ State.
The Report My Signal Forum will endeavor to edit/ delete any material which is considered offensive, undesirable and or impinging on national security. The Blog Team is very conscious of potentially questionable content. However, where a content is posted and between posting and removal from the blog in such cases, the act does not reflect either the condoning or endorsing of said material by the Team.
Blog Moderator: Lt Col James Kanagaraj (Retd)
Neither the "Report my Signal -Blogs" nor the individual authors of any material on these Blogs accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused (including through negligence), which anyone may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of use of or reliance on information contained in or accessed through these Blogs.
This is not an official Blog site. This forum is run by team of ex- Corps of Signals, Indian Army, Veterans for social networking of Indian Defence Veterans. It is not affiliated to or officially recognized by the MoD or the AHQ, Director General of Signals or Government/ State.
The Report My Signal Forum will endeavor to edit/ delete any material which is considered offensive, undesirable and or impinging on national security. The Blog Team is very conscious of potentially questionable content. However, where a content is posted and between posting and removal from the blog in such cases, the act does not reflect either the condoning or endorsing of said material by the Team.
Blog Moderator: Lt Col James Kanagaraj (Retd)
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