ECHS health cover offers New Year relief to disabled military cadets, slashes medical costs: Report

These army cadets who sustained disabilities during rigorous military training had long fallen into a grey zone.

The New Year brought relief to around 500 army cadets in the form of a new health cover that significantly reduces medical expenses, according to Indian Express.

The benefit comes from the extension of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) to cadets who were medically discharged during training at premier institutions.

These army cadets who sustained disabilities during rigorous military training had long fallen into a grey zone. Though injured while preparing to serve the armed forces, they were not granted ex-serviceman status, leaving them ineligible for ECHS and other long-term welfare benefits.

As a result, many families were forced to bear high out-of-pocket medical costs, relying only on limited ex-gratia payments and private insurance, if any.

Kartik (27), who suffered from a spinal cord injury with quadriplegia during his NDA training in 2021, said his family had to spend about Rs 40,000 monthly on medical expenses. “This has come down by about Rs 10,000 after I got ECHS facilities. Some of my medicines are not available currently at empanelled facilities, but we were told that they will soon be. Once that happens, the medical expenses will go down further,” he told IE.

In August 2025, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of their struggle following a series of reports published in IE on the plights of these cadets. The Ministry of Defence also issued an order extending ECHS facilities to them.

According to IE, under the new arrangement, these disabled cadets are now entitled to cashless, cap-less treatment at military hospitals and empanelled private facilities under ECHS.

The one-time contributory fee — which can go up to Rs 1.2 lakh for serving officers — has been waived for these cadets, making the scheme accessible without imposing a financial burden.

Families told IE the change has already begun easing expenses related to long-term medication, surgeries and rehabilitation.

Several of these issues are currently under consideration by the Supreme Court, which is examining whether cadets disabled during training should be granted the same rights as personnel injured while in service. Since August, five hearings have taken place in the top court, with the next scheduled on January 20, stated the IE report.