(b) Confederation of Ex servicemen Associations and Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors. (supra) "63. ............. The question, therefore, is whether the State can ask the retired defence personnel to pay an amount of contribution for getting medical facilities by becoming a member of such Scheme. 64. In our opinion, such a contributory scheme cannot be held illegal, unlawful or unconstitutional. Ultimately, the State has to cater to the needs of its employees—past and present. It has also to undertake several other activities as a ―welfare‖ State. In the light of financial constraints and limited means available, if a policy decision is taken to extend medical facilities to ex-defence personnel by allowing them to become members of contributory scheme and by requiring them to make ―one-time payment‖ which is a ―reasonable amount‖, it cannot be said that such action would violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx 66. We are in agreement with the above view. In our considered opinion, though the right to medical aid is a fundamental right of all citizens including ex-servicemen guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution, framing of scheme for ex-servicemen and asking them to pay ―one-time contribution‖ neither violates Part III nor is it inconsistent with Part IV of the Constitution. Ex-servicemen who are getting pension have been asked to become members of ECHS by making ―one-time contribution‖ of reasonable amount (ranging from Rs 1800 to Rs 18,000). To us, this cannot be held illegal, unlawful, arbitrary or otherwise unreasonable. 67. Observations made by this Court in the cases relied upon by the petitioner and interveners including Consumer Education & Research Centre [(1995) 3 SCC 42 : 1995 SCC (L&S) 604] referred to earlier, must be read as limited to the facts before the court and should not be understood to have laid down a proposition of law having universal or general application irrespective of the factual situation before the W.P.(C) 7279/2013 Page 12 of 41