HYDERABAD: Ex-servicemen in the twin cities are an unhappy lot. And the reasons, they lament, are not quite what they expected after risking their lives for the nation or spending a good part of their lives on the border away from their families. Top on their list of grievances is the difficulty to reach the medical facilities supposedly set up for them.

"There is no transport at all from the bus station or railway station to reach the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinic, the empanelled hospitals or even the Military Hospital. The ECHS clinic at Secunderabad, in fact, is the only one covering the entire State and even a few districts from the adjoining districts. Naturally, it is not able to handle the load," says founder president of the Defence Ex-servicemen and Families Welfare Voluntary Society, G. Ramana Reddy.

Difficulty

Mr. Reddy, who had met Union Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju during the latter's recent visit here to represent the issue, says a lot of ex-servicemen above 60 are disabled and unable to avail of civil transport to reach the ECHS clinic or the Military Hospital.

"Most of the time, private vehicles, auto-rickshaws and their lot drain the pockets of ex-servicemen," he says. The travails do not stop there. "The pathology lab at Military Hospital is not up to the mark. Sometimes, we are forced to go to Chennai or Mumbai for certain tests. The hospital also does not have a neurosurgeon or neuro-physician among others, which means we have to go all the way to the Command Hospital, Pune for these facilities," Mr. Ramana Reddy says.

Mr. Reddy also points out that there is no official body to take care of the welfare of widows of ex-servicemen. "As a result, settling of pension claims and related issues are delayed inordinately for these women and their families who have already suffered due to the loss of their breadwinners. Something should be done about this," he adds.

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