Bengaluru is among the eight cities in the country where veterans’ hospitals will be developed with private partnership using CSR funds. The other cities are Delhi, Hyderabad, Ambala, Chennai, Jalandhar, Bareilly and Dehradun.
According to MD of Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) Maj. Gen. N.R. Indurkar, the eight locations have been preferred as a large number of ex servicemen reside there and a certain ecosystem already exists where private entities can partner with the government to set up veterans hospitals. He pointed to examples of Reliance, ONGC, GAIL, Infosys and Tatas spending CSR funds for creating large medical infrastructure.
For civilians too
Sharing details about the proposed model, he said, “The plan is to have 200 to 400-bed hospitals. Infrastructure can be developed by private entity on defence land or land along with developed infrastructure would be given for the private entity to manage the hospital.” He said through these models, the cost of medical treatment could be reduced. “The hospital will be open for civilians too. It will differentiate between corporate competition and welfare,” he said.
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