New Delhi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has sanctioned delegation of emergency financial powers to Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) to fight the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.

As per the order issued on April 23, emergency financial powers have been delegated to Director General Medical Services (Army/Navy/Air Force), head of Medical Branches at Formation/Command Headquarters of Army/Navy/Air Force/Andaman & Nicobar Command and Joint Staff including Command Medical Officers of Navy and Principal Medical Officers of Air Force (Major General and equivalent/Brigadiers and equivalent).

The emergency financial powers have been delegated under Sl No 8.1 of Schedule 8 of Medical Schedule of Powers (MSP) to Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services (DFPDS) 2016. The delegated financial powers are as given below:-

·DGsMS (Army/Navy/Air Force) – Rs 500 lakh

·Major General & equivalent – Rs 300 lakh

·Brigadier & equivalent – Rs 200 lakh

Emergency powers to these Lower CFAs have been delegated up to September 30, 2021 with a provision for revision/extension to expedite procurement of medical items/materials/stores and provisioning of various services for treatment/management/tackling of COVID-19 cases.

This is a pro-active measure taken by Ministry of Defence (MoD) to enable AFMS to provide medical services to the personnel of the Armed Forces as well as aid the civil administration.