New Delhi: Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures. That is what the Indian Army has decided to go in for even as it switched on the crisis mode and ordered strict compliance of several measures which besides being unprecedented were also of an emergency nature.
With no fast answers to the scourge of coronavirus in immediate sight even as reports came in of an Army officer and a lady being quarantined in a military institute in Pune, soon after the Indian Army’s first case of confirmed was reported from a soldier in Ladakh, all units have been asked to ensure that there is no assembly of more than 50 personnel at a time—not a very easy task because armies operate in physically close proximities.
Sources told ETV Bharat that personnel already on leave have been asked to extend it by 15-30 days with an advisory to stay indoors wherever they are especially in the affected regions. All personnel just back from leave will be screened and will be segregated from the others in separate accommodation for a period of 7-10 days.
Personnel with cold, cough and flu-like symptoms have been ordered to undergo detailed screening even as all movements to civilian areas are also being curtailed, the sources added.
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The Army is already operating several quarantine facilities at Manesar, Binnaguri, Gaya, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Jhansi.
With all movement for training, courses, discussions, collective training having been ceased until further orders, there is a strong possibility that the top conference of Army commanders slated for March 2020 will be called off. Those already in training and course programmes have been ordered to take preventive measures.
Held in March and October every year, the Army Commanders Conference (ACC) is an important event in the planning and execution process of Indian Army that undertakes a 360-degree look at the current emerging perspectives on issues relating to operations, logistics, administration, human resources and welfare.
To ensure due diligence, decisions are taken through the collegiate system comprising army commanders and senior officers.
Also being called off is the Retiring Officers Seminar (ROS) that is held every month. The Army chief attends this seminar to meet the retiring officers where retirement documentation issues, pay and allowances issues, grievances of any are sorted out. Interactions are also conducted to find out if any help or support is required from the army and government to ensure the well-being of the superannuating officer and his family.
The source also confirmed that the official domestic and foreign country tours of the candidates pursuing the prestigious National Defence College (NDC) course have also been called off.
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NDC offers a 47-week-long course to senior military officials and bureaucrats besides foreign military officers with a focus on national security "covering all dimensions of domestic, regional and international issues to equip the future policymakers with the background necessary to get a broad understanding of the multifarious economic, political, military, scientific and organizational aspects that are essential for planning of national strategy".
