Lok Sabha Question No. 548 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-16
Subject: New initiative in Defence Sector
Ministry: DEFENCE
Asked by: Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Jayanta Kumar Roy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.548

TO BE ANSWERED ON 16 th  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## NEW INITIATIVE IN DEFENCE SECTOR

548. SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO: DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

Will the Minister of DEFENCE j{kk ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Rafale Aircraft has been inducted in Indian Air Force;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has decided to grant permanent commission to women officers and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether Indian Navy has conducted 'Operation Samudra Setu' to rescue Indian nationals stranded abroad and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e)  the  other  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  tackle  the  impact  of  COVID-19 Pandemic in defence sector?

## A    N    S    W    E    R

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

- (a)  &  (b):    First  batch  of  five  Rafale  aircraft  has  been  inducted  and  operationalised  at  Air Force Station Ambala.  Induction ceremony was conducted on 10 th September, 2020.
- (c) (i)    Short  Service  Commission(SSC)  women  officers  are  being  considered  for,  and granted  Permanent  Commission  (PC)  in  all  branches  of  the  IAF  based  on  cadre vacancies, willingness, suitability, medical fitness and merit  as per policies in vogue. As  on  1 st September,  2020,  372  women  SSC  officers  (excluding  Medical/Dental branches) have been granted Permanent Commission.

(ii)    Since  03.12.2008,  Indian  Navy  has  been  considering  and  granting  Permanent Commission to women officers (at par with male officers) in certain Branches/Cadres/specialisation  viz.  Education,  Law,  Naval  Constructor  and  Naval Armament  Inspectorate  based  on  inter-se  merit,  suitability  and  vacancies.    Short Service  Commission  officers  (both  men  and  women)  are  also  being  considered  for Permanent Commission  in certain more Cadres/Branches/Specialisation as per Hon'ble Supreme Court judgement dated 17.03.2020.

(iii)  The Government sanction letters for grant of Permanent Commission to women officers in Army have been issued on 25.02.2019 and 19.07.2020.

(d)  Yes, Sir.  Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa, Airavat, Shardul and Magar were deployed as part  of  Operation  Samudra  Setu  to  evacuate  the  stranded  Indian  Nationals  from  Iran, Maldives and Sri Lanka during COVID-19 crisis.  A Total of 3992 Indian Nationals were evacuated safely to India as part of Operation Samudra Setu.

(e)    The  details  of  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  tackle  the  impact  of  COVID-19 pandemic in defence sector are annexed.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  548  FOR  ANSWER  ON  16.09.2020  REGARDING 'NEW INITIATIVE IN DEFENCE SECTOR'.

The  following  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  tackle  the  impact  of COVID-19 pandemic in defence sector:

(a) Hospital Infrastructure development to tackle 'COVID'

(i)  Beginning  in  the  month  of  March,  2020  procurement  of  essential  equipment  to tackle  COVID-19  cases  in  AFMS  hospitals  was  undertaken.    Supply  order  for ventilators, oxygen concentrators, hand thermal guns, multipara monitors, PPE, Face masks, sanitizers, disinfectants etc, were placed for all AFMS hospitals.

(ii) Emergency procurement powers of the DGAFMS was sanctioned by the Raksha Mantri for procurement of additional equipment like RT-PCR machines and test kits. As on day,  there are 27 functional laboratories in the AFMS carrying out molecular testing  for  COVID  using  RT-PCR,  TrueNat,  CBNAAT  and  GenExpert  techniques. Rapid Antigen Tests are available in the periphery for early diagnosis, isolation and contact tracing of cases.

(iii)    In  line  with  latest  treatment  trends  at  a  national  and  global  level,  drugs  like Favipiravir  and  Remdesivir  have been  made  available  in  AFMS  Hospitals.    Plasma Therapy is also available in two hospitals of AFMS.

(b)  Quarantine facilities.  Station quarantine facilities have been set up in all military stations where troops are quarantined after returning from leave for 14 days.  Any person developing symptoms during quarantine is immediately tested and isolated, if found positive.

(c)    Teams  for  Contact  Tracing.  Teams  comprising  of  medical  and  paramedical  staff  have been  trained  in  tracing  high  risk  contacts  of  confirmed  cases  for  instituting  quarantine measures.  Asymptomatic high risk contacts are tested between day 7-10 of exposure.

(d)  COVID CARE CENTRES (CCC).  These have been set up to augment hospitals where large  number  of  COVID  patients  are  being  admitted.    Asymptomatic  and  mild  cases  are admitted in these CCCs to decongest the hospitals.

(e)    Interaction  with  Armed  Forces  Medical  Services  of  Friendly  Countries.    Knowledge exchange  and  best practices  for  COVID  control  being  followed  by  USA,  Vietnam, Cambodia,  Laos,  Myanmar  and  Sri  Lanka  have  been  adopted  by  the  AFMS  to  optimise patient care.

(f)  Liaison with MoHFW and ICMR.  The DGAFMS has maintained continuous liaison to ensure  that  guidelines  and policies  issued  by  the  apex  bodies  are  implemented  to  optimise patient care.  Multiple guidelines pertaining to control and management of COVID have been issued by the DGAFMS to ensure conformity of care across the three services.

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