Overview

• The Defence Ministry told the Supreme Court that cadets medically discharged due to training-related disabilities are now eligible for ECHS care with the one-time ₹1.2 lakh subscription fee waived.
• A bench of Justices B. V. Nagarathna and P. K. Mishra asked the Centre to revise ex gratia amounts set in 2017 to reflect inflation and to strengthen insurance coverage for disablement.
• The court urged consideration of group insurance aligned with annual cadet intakes at the NDA, IMA, OTA and other pre‑commissioning institutions.
• Officials were asked to devise a medical reassessment process to support resettlement, with the bench suggesting a distinct category for such cadets drawing on provisions of the disabilities law.
• Senior advocate Rekha Palli was appointed amicus curiae as the court supervises implementation, noting earlier reports of hundreds of cadets boarded out since 1985 who previously lacked ECHS access.