New Delhi: Appreciating the armed forces for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also asked them to ensure their operational preparedness so that the adversary could not exploit the current situation.
While reviewing the operational preparedness as well as measures to fight COVID-19 with all the Commanders in Chief through a video conference, Mr Singh directed the forces to initiate measures to spend the financial resources, avoiding wastage in view of the economic burden imposed by COVID-19.
Stressing on the requirement of jointness of the Armed Forces, the minister asked the Commanders in Chief to identify and prioritise tasks that could be accomplished quickly and assist in revival of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, the defence ministry said in a statement.
During the conference, the Commanders in Chief apprised him of various measures put in place by them to prevent virus infection among the forces and assistance extended to the local civilian administration.
These include issue of SoPs on COVID-19, introduction of appropriate modifications in protocols and drills as per the advisories issued by Ministry of Health and other agencies and taking care of the Ex-Servicemen and their families residing in their respective command areas.
The Commanders appreciated recent devolution of emergency financial powers by the Ministry of Defence that has ensured timely procurement of necessary medical supplies, to bolster the health infrastructure of the hospitals, it added.
The armed forces have in a holistic manner taken upon themselves the responsibility of improving the support in dealing with COVID, by augmenting additional manpower, by providing them basic training, to deal with the epidemic.
“The Commanders have also apprised that isolation and quarantine facilities have been set up for use of the forces as well as the local civilian administration. They have also expressed readiness to pitch in to maintain essential services locally if requested by the civilian administration,” the ministry added.
Besides the minister, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General M M Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and Secretary Defence (Finance) Gargi Kaul participated in the Conference.
Officers from the following Commands participated in the video Conference: Northern Command, Udhampur; Eastern Command, Kolkata; Southern Naval Command, Kochi; Western Naval Command, Mumbai; Southern Command, Pune; South-Western Command, Jaipur; Western Air Command, Delhi; Eastern Naval Command, Vizag; Central Air Command, Allahabad; South-West Air Command, Gandhi Nagar; Southern Air Command, Trivendrum; Central Command, Lucknow; and Andaman & Nicobars Command, Port Blair.
