PM Modi at Leh Hospital
New Delhi: The Indian Army on Saturday said it is unfortunate that some people are casting aspersions on the treatment of Indian soldiers at the Leh hospital where Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit a day ago.
The Indian Army has said the armed forces are given the best possible treatment and the hall shown in the photos were converted into a ward due to the coronavirus crisis.
“There have been malicious and unsubstantiated accusations in some quarters regarding the status of the facility visited by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during his visit to the General Hospital at Leh on July 03, 2020,” the Indian Army said in a statement.
Prime Minister Modi on Friday visited Ladakh and spoke to the Indian Army, Air Force and ITBP personnel posted in the border region.
He also paid a visit to the injured soldiers who fought Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley clash.
Interacting with them at the army hospital in Leh, PM Modi said the world is discussing that India's brave soldiers have shown valour before "such powers".
As photographs of PM Modi's visit to the Leh facility surfaced, several people took to Twitter and expressed doubt if the Leh facility visible in the photos was a hospital at all.
As some said that the facility shown in the photos are a conference hall and no hospital, the Indian Army clarified that it is a training hall that was converted into a ward since the Leh hospital became a designated Covid hospital.
Slamming critics, the Indian Army has said, “It is unfortunate that aspersions are being cast on how our brave Armed Forces are treated. The Armed Forces give the best possible treatment to their personnel.”
“It is clarified that the said facility is part of the Crisis Expansion capacity of 100 beds and is very much part of the General Hospital complex,” said the Army.
“The COVID-19 protocol had necessitated some wards of the General Hospital to be converted into isolation facilities. Hence, this hall which otherwise was normally used as a Training Audio Video Hall was converted into a ward ever since the hospital was also designated as COVID treatment hospital,” said the Army in its clarification on Saturday.
It also added, “The injured braves have been kept there since their arrival from Galwan to ensure quarantine from COVID areas. The Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane and the Army Commander have also visited the injured braves in the same location.”
