Palak Gupta

As the first case of Coronavirus came to light on 30 January 2020, the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) swung into action immediately. They constructed two isolation facilities in Haryana’s Manesar and Delhi’s Chhawla to house quarantined patients. The construction of these two facilities, equipped to accommodate as many as 800 people, was one of the initial steps undertaken by country’s defence and paramilitary services to help in combating the Covid-19 outbreak.

A woman wearing mask at CP, New Delhi

As the world grapples with an unprecedented global pandemic of this scale and magnitude, the Indian armed forces have earmarked 28 hospitals of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy to handle coronavirus cases. This was conveyed by Director General, Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) Lt Gen. Anup Banerji while interacting with the media. Apart from this, five hospitals of the tri-services can conduct Covid-19 testing. These include Army Hospital Research and Referral, Delhi; Command Hospital Air Force, Bangalore; Armed Forces Medical College, Pune; Command Hospital (Central Command) Lucknow and Command Hospital (Northern Command) Udhampur.

Six additional hospitals will soon be equipped with the resources to begin testing.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has contributed a sum of Rs 33 crore, 81 lakh, which has been put together with one-day pay of the force’s personnel, to Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The force believes that, “We are dutifully committed to stand firmly with our nation in this challenging time of Covid-19 pandemic.”

Defence minister Rajnath Singh has announced to donate his one-month salary to the PM-CARES fund. A Trust named Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) has been set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the people of India in their fight against Covid-19. “I have decided to donate my one month’s salary to the PM-CARES Fund. You can also contribute to this fund and strengthen India’s resolve to fight against the menace of Covid-19,” said the defence minister.

Singh said he has also asked the Chairman Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) to release Rs 1 crore to the PM-CARES Fund.

The army, navy and air force as well as employees of the defence ministry have decided to donate a day’s salary – a total of Rs 500 crore - to the relief fund.

Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received an order to manufacture 13,000 litres of sanitiser.

Defence secretary Ajay Kumar took to Twitter and wrote, “The OFB has quickly made changes to be able to manufacture various medical supplies required to fight the war against Covid-19 – sanitisers/masks/PPE equipment for health staff etc.”

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had already manufactured and supplied masks and sanitisers to various organisations. “Approximately, 4,000 litres of hand sanitiser has been provided to the Indian armed forces, Armed Forces Medical Corps and Defence Security Corps; 1,500 litres to ministry of defence; 300 litres to Parliament, and 500 litres to various security establishments and high offices to address sanitisation issue at first,” the ministry of defence said in a statement adding that DRDO has provided 20,000 three ply masks and 1,000 litres of hand sanitisers to Delhi Police.

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Corona cases are growing worldwide with no relief in sight. India has reported over 2000 cases till now, with more than 50 Covid-related deaths. The numbers are due to change with time and stand verified at the time of filing this report. Globally,