What is the News?
The Union defence ministry has granted emergency financial powers to the country’s armed forces. This is to empower their efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic.
About Emergency Financial Powers to Armed Forces:
- The Emergency Financial Powers will allow armed forces to establish and operate quarantine facilities and hospitals.
- Besides, it will also help them to operate and procure equipment and resources to perform any required urgent tasks.
- The armed forces will be able to perform all these operations without the usual clearances.
Who has these powers?
- Vice Chiefs of the armed forces including the Chief Of Integrated Defence Staff, Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee(CISC) and General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs(GOC-in-Cs) have these powers. Further, similar equivalents of all three Services have been given full powers.
- Further, Corps Commanders and Area Commanders have been delegated powers up to ₹50 lakh per case
- Also, Division Commanders, Sub Area Commanders and equivalents have been delegated powers up to ₹20 lakh per case.
Duration:
- These powers have been devolved initially for three months from May 1 to July 31, 2021.
- These are in addition to the emergency powers delegated to the medical officers of the armed forces.
Other Organizations contribution during the pandemic:
- Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is arranging big size oxygen cylinders for fulfilling requirements of different hospitals.
- The Navy has sent a 76-member medical contingent from five Naval hospitals to the 900-bed COVID hospital in Ahmedabad. This is to bolster the availability of trained manpower.
- The Cantonment Boards have extended support to civil administration in various parts of the country to fight over the increase in Covid-19 cases.
Source: The Hindu
