Giving a boost to the national effort to fight corona pandemic, the armed forces have opened the doors of their hospitals to civilians. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is setting up huge hospitals in Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna for exclusive use of corona patients.
Reviewing the pace of these projects here on Tuesday in a virtual meeting with the Defence Ministry top brass, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also asked the three Services to be in regular touch with the State Governments on the preparations for fighting the disease.
The meeting was attended by the three Services chiefs. Rajnath asked them to offer available facilities and expertise to the civil administration during the ongoing Covid crisis.
The Defence Minister also directed Army Chief General MM Naravane to instruct local commanders to reach out to Chief Ministers of States and offer whatever help possible in dealing with the Covid-19 situation.
Following this, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar also issued instructions that during the current surge of coronavirus cases, 67 Cantonment Board hospitals across India be advised to ensure medical service to patients among both cantonment residents and non-residents.
The DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy informed the Minister that a Covid-19 facility developed by DRDO has again been made functional in New Delhi and efforts are being made to soon increase the number of beds from 250 to 500.
He also informed the meeting that the ESIC Hospital, which was converted to Covid hospital in Patna, has started functioning with 500 beds. He informed that work is on war footing to set up a 450-bed hospital in Lucknow, 750-bed hospital in Varanasi and 900-bed hospital in Ahmedabad.
The DRDO on Monday supplied 150 jumbo cylinders of medical oxygen to the Uttar Pradesh Government, as per directions by the Defence Minister. An additional
1,000 cylinders would be provided by the DRDO later. The oxygen would be supplied to hospitals in Lucknow for Covid-19 patients.
Rajnath was briefed about the measures taken by the DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and the National Cadet Corps (NCC) in providing aid to the civil administration in this hour of crisis.
He urged the DPSUs, OFB and DRDO to work on war footing to provide oxygen cylinders and extra beds to civil administration at the earliest. He also delegated the emergency powers of procurement so that critical needs are procured.
The DRDO chief further said SpO2 (Blood Oxygen Saturation)-based supplemental oxygen delivery system developed for soldiers posted at extreme high-altitude areas can be used or Covid patients as their conditions become similar. The product will be available soon in the market from the industry as per technology provided by the DRDO.
