The cabinet today approved to create 199 additional polyclinics at a cost of Rs. 141 crore ($30 million). It is a step taken in concern to boost the quality of medicare offered to India's 33 lakh ex-servicemen and their dependents. This would eventually take the total number of polyclinics to 426.

Where this project will revamp the central organization of the employees contributory health scheme (ECHS), it’ll also include creating 17 mobile military medical facilities and 15 new-fangled regional centers.

About Rs. 118.52 crore will be invested towards cost of land, construction and medical equipment; Rs. 22.25 crore will be for the purchase of furniture and IT hardware; and Rs. 43 crore will be served for the annual recurring expenditure on the new facilities. The total amount will account to Rs. 141 crore.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued an official statement, stating, “'At present, ex-servicemen residing in remote areas where their population is less than 2500 face a lot of inconvenience in reaching the polyclinics due to their location varying from 200 to 300 km from their place of residence. The expansion of ECHS will provide easy access to health facilities for such ex-servicemen and their dependents”.

This venture will create 426 polyclinics in 343 various districts of the State, giving special advantages to the ex-servicemen residing in remote and far flung areas.