A reason why this is happening is due to the limited ‘vote-on-account’ budget. Under the supply chains, the military hospitals across India procure the medicines and then supply it to the ECHS polyclinics.These polyclinics supply the medicines to the ex-servicemen. The problem is compounded in those polyclinics which are not co-located to military hospitals, so procuring medicines is difficult. Several times, the ALCs may not have life-saving drugs.The lengthy procurement process for medicines is also another reason for the shortage. Due to this, the military hospitals and the ALCs cannot provide alternatives to the medicines which have been prescribed.

Source: Economic Times July 01, 2019 02:37 UTC