New Delhi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved temporary hiring of additional contractual staff over and above the authorisation in 51 identified high pressure Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinics across the country to tide over the current COVID-19 crisis.

The contractual staff, including one each of Medical Officer, Nursing Assistant, Pharmacist, Driver and Chowkidar for identified ECHS polyclinics, will be hired through Station Headquarters for night duty, beyond normal working hours, for a period of three months.

The high pressure ECHS polyclinics to be covered are in Lucknow, Delhi Cantt (BHDC), Bangalore (Urban), Dehradun, Kotputli, Amritsar, Meerut, Chandigarh, Jammu, New Delhi (Lodhi Road), Secunderabad, Agra, Ambala, Greater Noida, Gurdaspur, Pune, Trivandrum, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gurgaon, Gurgaon (Sohna Rd), Hoshiarpur, Mohali, Chandimandir, Allahabad, Ghaziabad (Hindon), Pathankot, Jodhpur, Ludhiana, Ropar, Tarantaran/Patti, Kolkata, Danapur (Patna), Khadki (Pune), Palampur, Bareilly, Kolhapur, Yol, South Pune (Lohegaon), Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guntur, Barrackpore, Chennai, Gorakhpur, Patiala, Noida, Bhopal, Kochi, Vellore and Ranchi.

The move will ensure availability of immediate medical attention even during night hours to acute cases in these areas to the veterans and their dependents. The validity of this sanction is up to August 15, 2021.