Indian Army establishes COVID Management Cell to coordinate assistance to civil authorities

The Indian Army has established a COVID Management Cell under Director-General Rank Officer in order to coordinate multiple facets of the staffing and logistics support.

As per the official release by the Ministry of Defence, the COVID Management Cell will be reporting directly to the Vice Chief of Army Staff. It added that the Indian Army has been at the forefront of COVID response at the national level.

As India records a spike in COVID-19 cases, the Indian Army has deployed considerable medical resources for assisting the civil authorities to fight against the pandemic. It has also been providing medical care to the veterans and their dependents amid the ongoing health crisis.

Indian Army establishes #COVID19 management cell to coordinate assistance to civil authority

This will bring greater efficiency in coordinating real-time responses to address the exponential rise in COVID cases across the country#Unite2FightCorona

Read:https://t.co/OI4PxcqcTQ pic.twitter.com/ibtW4MoXRB

— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 6, 2021

Significance:

The COVID Management Cell will bring efficiency in coordinating the real-time responses for addressing the rampant rise in COVID-19 positive cases across the country including Delhi.

Assistance to the Civil Administration has already been provided in Delhi in form of admissions, testing in military hospitals, and the transportation of critical medical equipment.

Army deploys medical resources to assist civil authorities:

Apart from ensuring force preservation and medical care to the veterans and their dependents, the Indian Army has also been providing medical resources to assist civil authorities.

The assistance has been given by the army particularly at 5 COVID-19 hospitals that are already functional or are in the process of being established at Ahmedabad, Delhi, Lucknow, Patna, and Varanasi.

Special provisions and grants to armed forces:

To facilitate the medical resources and help from the Indian Army, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave his approval to invoke the special provisions and also granted financial powers to the armed forces.

The step was taken to speed their efforts and empower the forces as the country fights the second wave of the pandemic. The special powers to the armed forces by the government have been devolved for the time period of three months (May to July 2021).