Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a review meeting at his office in South Block with senior officials of Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the action plan to deal with the COVID-19 situation onThursday. The Army has been asked to identify additional infrastructure for setting up of quarantine or isolation centres in each military station.
Various quarantine facilities of the armed forces have, so far, handled 1,462 evacuees and discharged 389. Currently, 1,073 persons are being provided care at the facilities in Manesar, Hindan, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Mumbai. Additional quarantine facilities are on standby with 950 beds capacity, the defence ministry stated in a PIB release after the meeting.
“The Indian Army is prepared to extend its network of hospitals and laboratory facilities to assist civil administration at COVID-19 hotspots. To plan for augmenting public health experts in severely affected areas, the Army is preparing for sidestepping medical personnel from lesser affected areas to augment health experts in severely affected areas if required. The Army is also providing training of its own medical personnel at various hospitals to be better prepared for COVID-19,” Army sources said.
It added that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories have manufactured 20,000 litres of sanitisers and supplied to various organisations, including 10,000 litres to Delhi police. DRDO has also supplied 10,000 masks to Delhi police personnel. It is tying up with some private companies to make personal protection equipment such as body suits and also ventilators.
Ordnance Factory Board has also ramped up production of sanitisers, masks and bodysuits. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is also engaged in manufacturing of ventilators.
"Army medical teams deployed in the Maldives have since returned after completion of their mission. Army medical teams and two ships of Navy are on standby to provide required assistance to friendly countries in the neighbourhood," the ministry informed.
While expressing appreciation on the proactive role played by the armed forces and various departments of the defence ministry in evacuating Indian nationals as well as foreigners from COVID-19 affected countries and ensuring them proper care at various quarantine facilities, Rajnath Singh has urged the armed forces and other departments to gear up their preparedness and provide all required assistance to the civilian administration at various levels.
The meeting lasted for more than two hours and was attended by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar and three service chiefs along with DRDO chairman Dr G. Satheesh Reddy. During the meeting, Singh was briefed on various measures and assistance provided so far like Indian Air Force's several sorties for evacuating Indian nationals from affected areas in China, Japan and Iran.
