Discuss the role of the armed forces in the fight against COVID-19?10M

With record number of new COVID-19 patients, the country is facing shortage of medical facilities like hospital, medical oxygen and medical staff.

It is indeed a war-like situation except this time enemy is not China or Pakistan but rather an invisible virus. And experts believe that there is only a minuscule percentage of their (military) capability has been put to use. Only the military health resources (Army medical corps) have been fully engaged and, there are other capacities available with military and those are not being fully utilised. Less than one-tenth capacity of the armed forces is being engaged.

For example, during 2014 flood in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army not only provided relief and rescue to the general public.

Status of armed forces

  • India’s armed forces have 1.5 million trained personnel deployed all over the country and, by now, they all are COVID vaccinated. Some feel that the reluctance on part giving larger role to military could be a reflection on government's inability to deal with the situation.
Role of armed forces :

Create Infrastructure in War footing
  • COVID is not only a medical emergency, as it is also a supply and logistic as well information emergency. And the military is equipped to create infrastructure in war footing.
Clinic Support 
  • Military engineering services can be used to bring up the capacity of oxygen generation along with creating additional make-shift hospitals and dispensaries. Its strength of over 2000 officers can quickly set up the required infrastructure in short deadline in every place around the country.
The Army has an all-India network of medical store depot
  •  the medical side, the Army has an all-India network of medical store depots that can be used to supply of critical medicine to assist civil administration. “We deliver medicine to our forward most areas, even high altitude Siachen, with a strong supply chain. The Army Medical Corps does carriage of these medicines.
logistic network with trained manpower
  • military has a huge logistic network with trained manpower. Army has a pan-India movement control network mechanism. And it can be used to track medical supplies. Movement Control Office (MCO) is responsible for assisting in planning, coordination and control of military movements in support of operations, exercises and administrative deployments across the country.
  •  Army Service Corps has a large number of vehicles and transportation, which can be used for system and logistic support for a dedicated supply chain. Engineers from EME Corps can be utilised for repair and maintenance of heavy medical equipment.
  • Example In  Agra, the Army and the Air Force helped the district administration set up a new oxygen generation plant to meet the dire shortage of oxygen. 
  • While the military is engaged in large numbers, there is also a scope to incorporate logistics expertise of the armed forces in crisis management to improve the supply chain

pan-India presence, 

  • pan-India presence, the Army can help civil administration provide the ground situation in remote areas with number of COVID-19 affected cases and available medical facilities.
“It is not that the Army is a solution to every problem, but here India have a well-trained and disciplined military force. They can assist by carrying out testing and vaccination roll out to the areas with the Army's pan-India presence including remote and border areas."

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