Forces granted emergency financial powers

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday granted emergency financial powers to the military to strengthen and accelerate its efforts to deal with the crisis posed by the coronavirus disease pandemic even as the Indian Navy dispatched its warships to foreign shores to bring back liquid oxygen filled cryogenic containers.

“These (financial) powers will help formation commanders to establish and operate quarantine facilities/hospitals and undertake procurement/repair of equipment/items/material/ stores, besides provisioning of various services and works required to support the ongoing effort against the pandemic,” the defence ministry said in a statement. While vice chiefs of armed forces including Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) and army commanders (and their equivalent ranks in the navy and air force) have been given “full powers”, corps commanders and area commanders have been delegated powers to spend up to ₹50 lakh each.

While the statement did not elaborate on financial powers given to the vice chiefs and others, ministry officials said “full powers” implied that finances should not come in the way of mounting a robust response to the pandemic. “These powers have been devolved initially for a period of three months, from May 1 to July 31, 2021,” the statement said. These powers are in addition to the emergency powers granted to the military’s medical officers last week.

On April 23, Singh granted emergency buying powers to senior military doctors as part of the ministry’s overall plan to fight the outbreak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reviewed the military’s preparations for Covid relief thrice this week in one-on-one meetings with the chief of defence staff, the Indian Air force chief and the army chief.

IAF is also making a significant contribution in the fight against Covid.