New Delhi: With the entire world facing an unprecedented crisis even as it fights against an unknown enemy in COVID-19, India's huge military is at the forefront.
In an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat on Monday, India's defence secretary Dr Ajay Kumar listed some efforts: "Various organisations of the Ministry of Defence are supporting the government's efforts to fight this pandemic. All three services are at the forefront of this support. The Armed Forces Medical Services has been performing wonderfully well, whether it is for providing quarantine facilities for suspected arrivals or for preparing hospitals and beds for influx of patients."
"DRDO has come up with several innovative technologies and solutions which are being manufactured by industry and made available to users. The Ordnance Factory Board, Bharat Electricals Limited (BEL) and other defence public sector units are also diverting their manufacturing facilities to scale up production of COVID related requirements including sanitizers, masks, PPE, and ventilators."
"Apart from these, NCC, and ex-servicemen have volunteered in large number to support corona warriors. We thank them all."
"In short, every organ of MoD is contributing its might in this fight against Corona," the 1985-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer said.
Asked if he thought COVID-19 may be part of a biological warfare, Kumar said: "I am not sure if this could be labeled as biological war. But nevertheless, there is a war against this pandemic, which all efforts are being made to fight against and win."
Read: Defence ministry makes its own hand-held fever checking gun in fight against COVID-19
With a scramble among the world's nations for acquisition of medical equipment especially ventilators, India is also facing an acute shortage of this critical life-saving equipment. But even here, defence arms are at the forefront.
Says Kumar: "BEL has been given an order of 30,000 ventilators to be produced. They are ramping up their capacity. They will have manufacturing capacity to give 500 ventilators per day by June 2020."
A daily production of 500 ventilators work out to an impressive 15,000 pieces a month.
"Similarly, orders have been received by OFB for masks and sanitizers. The commitment with which these organisations have made adjustments to manufacture COVID-19-related requirements is commendable."
A key strength of the military is its well-known expertise in swift transportation and in building semi-permanent structures for storage or even to set up nodal points of operation that may come in quite handy in maintaining a supply-chain for food grains and other essential commodities.
Read: 'India got enough food stocks for even a 6-month lockout due to COVID-19'
"The defence ministry is providing support to the industry to reduce the difficulties arising from the disruption of their supply chain. We have had discussions with industry leaders to address their concern. Going forward we will maintain this dialogue and take steps to mitigate the difficulties that industry may be facing due to COVID-19," the defence secretary added.
"COVID-19 also provides an opportunity to develop indigenous supply chains wherever possible. Several companies have come forward with substitute components/items which could replace imported items and the use can greatly benefit in the long run as well. This should be encouraged," Kumar added.
-
India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world. Let us rise to that occasion and seize this opportunity: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 19, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world. Let us rise to that occasion and seize this opportunity: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 19, 2020India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world. Let us rise to that occasion and seize this opportunity: PM @narendramodi
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) April 19, 2020
Interestingly, on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted that the COVID-19 outbreak has offered an opportunity to India on the issue of supply chains. The PM had tweeted: "India, with the right blend of the physical and virtual, India can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world. Let us rise to that occasion and seize this opportunity."
Read: COVID 2019: Indian Army in 'standby' mode for help in 'friendly neighbourhood'
