New medicare facilities for ex-servicemen

DANAPUR: The ministry of defence has approved an Augmented Armed Forces Clinic (AAFC) at the Danapur Cantonment with the sole aim of providing better and advanced medicare, particularly to ex-servicemen, under the contributory health scheme.
All the ex-servicemen belonging to the Army, Air Force and Navy and their dependents are entitled for their treatment free of cost, said Augmented Armed Forces Clinic regional director Col Narendra Singh.
According to Col Singh, the popular demand of the combined defence forces was pending with the Central Government since 1971. However, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took a keen interest in the health scheme and approved it finally on December 30, 2002.
The concept of AAFC was announced by defence minister George Fernandes on January 15, he said and added that as many as 12 regional centres of the defence will have the facilities of contributory health scheme all over the country.
Dwelling at length upon the manifold advantages of the AAFC, Col Singh informed that the Patna regional centre will directly supervise the functioning of such clinics at different places in Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa.
Though there is no age bar for any ex-servicemen to join this health welfare scheme, it is, however, mandatory for them to pay one time contributions to the scheme to avail themselves of full medical facilities, he said. Col Singh pointed out that renowned doctors, preferably from the Danapur Army Hospital, are being empanelled on contractual basis to render their services at the Augmented Armed Forces Clinic and other clinics in these three states.
While medicare facilities in the Military Hospital are limited for the ex-servicemen, there is no such limit in the newly set-up AAFC at Danapur.
The ex-servicemen, who become members of the health scheme, are entitled for free treatment to any limit, he said.
According to sources, the Centre is likely to contribute about Rs 600 crore to make the scheme for the ex-servicemen, right from the soldiers to senior officials, successful.
Though a separate building of the AAFC, equipped with the required infrastructure, will be built at the Danapur Cantonment in future, the Augmented Armed Forces Clinic (AAFC) is well set to function at Danapur on the old Military Hospital premises to cater to the needs of the ex-servicemen, sources said.