Private hospitals in Chandigarh and Mohali allegedly routed ex-servicemen through intermediaries, classified them as fake emergencies, and billed the government for treatments nobody needed — then split the proceeds with a healthcare firm. The people who served the country are now serving as props in a billing spreadsheet.
The CBI has uncovered a multi-crore fraud targeting the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS), the healthcare program for India's retired military personnel. The scheme worked like a healthcare version of Uber: intermediaries would identify ECHS beneficiaries, route them to specific hospitals in Chandigarh and Mohali, and the hospitals would classify them as emergency admissions — without adequate clinical basis — to secure higher reimbursements from the government. Documents revealed a 50:50 revenue-sharing arrangement between Manthan Health Care and Dharam Hospital, plus per-patient kickbacks to the intermediaries who delivered the walking invoices. The CBI has named directors of healthcare firms, doctors from Amar Hospital, Shalby Hospital, 1H Plus Med Park Hospital, and Eden Critical Care Hospital, with more names expected. The FIR covers criminal conspiracy, cheating, using forged documents, and Prevention of Corruption Act violations. In a country that spends enormous political capital thanking its veterans, the actual healthcare scheme meant to serve them had been turned into an automated billing factory where the patient is the least important part of the transaction.