EYE ON CHINA, INDIA TO BUILD MEDICAL INFRA ON EAST BORDER

India is not only scaling up its military capabilities along the China border but also creating medical infrastructure at strategic locations and ramping up capacity of hospitals in forward areas to provide better medical care to its troops, officials familiar with the move said.

Three new hospitals will be raised under the China-centric Eastern Command over the next three years with a combined capacity of 475 beds, while two medical facilities are being upgraded in Leh and Misamari (Assam), as part of an overarching plan for capacity enhancement along the Chinese border, the officials said.

The new hospitals under the Kolkata-based Eastern Command are coming up in Panagarh (West Bengal), Rangapahar (Nagaland) and Likabali (Assam).

The defence ministry has shared the details of these medical projects with a parliamentary panel responsible for oversight of the ministry’s functioning.

Having “identified voids” in healthcare for troops in forward areas, the ministry has also briefed the parliamentary standing committee on defence on its plans to set up new hospitals in eastern Ladakh (200 beds), Chungthang in Sikkim (50 beds) and Borarupak in Arunachal Pradesh (49 beds).

“With deployment of more forces along the borders, there has to be an equal emphasis on building overall capacities including health facilities,” said a top defence ministry official.