Rajnath asks forces, public sector units to ramp up fight against coronavirus
NEW DELH: Amid the rising number of cases of COVID-19, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a review meeting on Thursday and decided to boost healthcare infrastructure and ramp up production of sanitisers, masks and suits.
“Rajnath Singh held a review meeting with senior officials of Ministry of Defence (MoD) on the action plan to deal with the COVID-19 situation, here today,” the MoD said in a statement. At the meeting attended by CDS General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar and all the three service chiefs along with other officials, Rajnath urged armed forces, defence PSUs and other organizations to gear up preparedness and provide all required assistance to civilian authorities.The Army has taken measures to augment its contribution in the fight against the pandemic. The Army has told its formations and cantonments to “identify additional infrastructure for setting up of quarantine/isolation centers in each station for own personnel.” The force was asked to “prepare a plan for sidestepping medical personnel from lesser affected areas to augment health experts in severely affected areas if required.
” The Army has begun additional training of own medical personnel at various hospitals to be better prepare.The Defence Research and Development Organisation, the Ordnance Factory Board and the Bharat Electronics Limited – associated with the MoD — are doing their role in boosting the healthcare infrastructure.