New Delhi. 26 April,2016. The medical stores procured for service personnel and Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) beneficiaries are required to be accounted for separately by the service hospitals. In situations where some medicines / stores are essentially required for combating the disease and salvaging precious lives of both serving personnel and ECHS beneficiaries, separate inventory for serving personnel and ECHS beneficiaries is not maintained. However, directions have been issued by the Directorate General Armed Forces Medical Services to all concerned to ensure that ECHS funds allotted to hospitals, depots and other medical units should be used for management of ECHS beneficiaries only.
There have been shortfalls in supply of medicines by the Armed Forces Medical Store Depots (AFMSDs) Mumbai and Delhi to the dependent medical units as well as to ECHS polyclinics. However, measures have been undertaken to improve the availability of medicines at all echelons including ECHS Polyclinics, which, inter-alia, include enhanced coverage of Central Rate Contracts and Price Agreements of medicines at online pharmacy usa international delivery and Senior Executive Medical Officer (SEMO) / Formation / Station level, augmentation of manpower for effective supply chain and inventory management of medicines, correct projection and analysis of Monthly Maintenance Figures (MMF) by ECHS Polyclinics and boost in the supply of Essential Drug List (EDL) for ECHS and Common Drug List (CDL) medicines by the AFMSDs. Directions have also been issued to the AFMSDs to make concerted efforts so that the state of compliance of indents made by the medical units including ECHS polyclinic is maximum.
As per the CAG report, there is a mismatch of 7431 smart cards in the data furnished by Central Organisation ECHS and the details obtained by the audit team directly from the card making company.
This information was given by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in a written reply to Paul Manoj Pandian in Rajya Sabha.
