Defence Ministry grants emergency financial powers to armed forces

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday granted emergency financial powers to the top officers of the three armed forces, in addition to the emergency powers given to armed forces medical officers last week, to fight the second wave of the pandemic.

"These 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," a Defence Ministry statement said.

Vice chiefs of the three armed forces, including the Chief Of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs Of Staff Committee (CISC) and General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs (GOC-in-Cs) and equivalents in all three services have been given full powers.

"The Corps Commanders/Area Commanders have been delegated powers up to Rs 50 lakh per case and Division Commanders/Sub Area Commanders and equivalents have been delegated powers up to Rs 20 lakh per case," the ministry said. These powers have been granted for a period of three months, from May 1 to July 31.

"The emergency powers were sanctioned to the Armed Forces last year too when the Covid-19 pandemic first broke out. This had helped the Armed Forces tackle the situation faster and in an effective manner," said the ministry.