ECHS facility for cadets disabled during military training: Centre to SC

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday assured the Supreme Court to provide medical facilities under "Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme" to cadets, who were discharged from military institutes owing to disabilities suffered during training.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Prashant Kumar Mishra was informed by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati that starting August 29, all such cadets were included in the ECHS scheme.

The one-time subscription fee has also been waived off for them, Bhati added.

Taking note of the submission, the top court directed the Centre to complete the registration preferably by September 15 as it appointed senior advocate Rekha Palli as amicus curiae in the matter.

"The government of India Ministry of Defence Department of Serviceman Welfare has extended medical facility in the form of ECHS to all invalidated outboarded cadets, without charging any subscription fee in as much as the one time subscription fee of Rs 1,20,000 which is currently payable by officers may not be paid by such invalidated/out boarded cadets," the bench noted.

The top court went on, "We appreciate the positive response from the respondents in so far as extending the medical facility for treatment in the form of ECHS scheme to the invalidated and outboarded cadets. The details of the said scheme may be placed on record."

On the issue of monetary benefit, the court noted the ex gratia amount with effect from 2017 and called for its enhancement, particularly bearing in mind the current state of inflation and price rise.

With regard to the insurance scheme currently in existence, the top court said it may not be adequate and said efforts could be made to enhance the insurance cover for the outboarded cadets.

The apex court also said there should be a reassessment of outboarded cadets for the purpose of resettlement and asked the Centre to formulate scheme for medical reassessment.

"These are educated people and they have cleared the entrance exam. They are capable of doing some or the other kind of job. Not as ex-serviceman but if some sort of desk job can be given as far as possible," the bench said.

Bhati said in case of death, an amount of Rs 12.5 lakh was paid as a one-time ex gratia payment and Rs 9,000 per month to kin.

"From 1992 onwards Air force Army and Navy they have their own insurance which is like a subscription based insurance. So cadets are included in those. There is the army group insurance fund. Monthly insurance premium is paid by service personnel," she said.

The top court noted the submissions and posted the matter for October 7.

The apex court had previously asked the defence forces to have "braveheart cadets" who should not be deterred by injuries or disabilities suffered during training and directed the Centre to explore the possibility of providing them with insurance covers for such exigencies.

The court had sought response of the Centre and defence forces in a suo motu case on difficulties faced by cadets, who were medically discharged from military institutes on account of disabilities suffered during training programmes.

On August 12, the top court took suo motu cognisance of a media report, which flagged the issue of these cadets.

They were stated to be a part of training at the nation's top military institutes such as the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA).

According to the media report, there are around 500 officer cadets who were medically discharged from these military institutes since 1985, due to varying degrees of disability incurred during training, and are now staring at mounting medical bills with an ex-gratia monthly payment that's far short of what they need.

In NDA alone, it was reported, there were around 20 such cadets, who were medically discharged in just five years, between 2021 and July 2025.

The report further highlighted the plight of these cadets because according to the rules, they were not entitled to the status of ex-servicemen (ESM), which would have made them eligible under the ECHS for free treatment at military facilities and empanelled hospitals, since their disabilities took place during training before they were commissioned as officers.

It said unlike soldiers in this category, entitled to ESM status, all that these officer cadets got was an ex-gratia payment of up to Rs 40,000 per month depending on extent of disability an amount that fell far short of basic needs.
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