Army sets up special cell under 3-star general for Covid-19 relief

The cell is headed by the Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement, said one of the officials. The three-star officer overseeing army’s assistance to the civil authorities will report directly to the vice chief.

The Indian Army has set up a Covid-19 management cell under a three-star general to help civil authorities fight the pandemic ravaging the country, officials said on Thursday.

The armed forces and other wings of the defence ministry have been at the centre of national efforts to battle Covid-19. They have set up Covid-19 hospitals, ramped up oxygen production and airlifted medical staff and oxygen containers to help deal with the rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country. (PHOTO: INDIAN ARMY.)

The cell is headed by the Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement, said one of the officials. The three-star officer overseeing army’s assistance to the civil authorities reports directly to the vice chief.

“In order to coordinate multiple facets of staffing and logistics support, an exclusive Covid management cell under a director general rank officer has been established which reports directly to the vice chief of army staff,” the army said in a statement.

The armed forces and other wings of the defence ministry have been at the centre of national efforts to battle Covid-19. They have set up Covid-19 hospitals, ramped up oxygen production and airlifted medical staff and oxygen containers and liaised with state governments to help deal with the rising number of Covid-19 cases.

“While the army has ensured own force preservation and medical care to veterans and their dependents, it has also deployed considerable medical resources to assist civil authorities especially at the five Covid-19 hospitals already functional or in the process of being established at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna,” the statement said.

The army said the new Covid-19 management cell will bring in greater efficiency in coordinating real-time responses to address the exponential rise in Covid-19 cases across the country including Delhi.

The military is also marshalling around 600 retired doctors to help fight the outbreak amidst its unrelenting spread. These military doctors retired during the last few years. Defence minister Rajnath Singh is regularly reviewing the efforts of his ministry and the armed forces to support the civilian administration in the fight against the crisis.

Rajnath Singh on Thursday said on Twitter that the whole government machinery has swung into action by mobilising all possible resources, giving details of the steps taken by the armed forces to help fight the crisis.

“’Jal’, ‘Thal’ and ‘Nabh’...our armed forces have left no stone unturned in strengthening the fight against Covid-19,” PM Narendra Modi said on Twitter.