(By Amit Cowshish
Late last month, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh authorised the Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) officers posted at the Service Headquarters (SHQ) and the decrease formations to physical exercise emergency economic powers. This choice will augment their capability to provide health-related services to the military personnel and the civil administration in the fight against the existing wave of Covid-19 circumstances across the nation.
According to the Press Release of April 23, these powers can be exercised for procurement of health-related shops, services, and management of facilities for remedy of these impacted by the deadly virus. Though the present authorisation is only up to September 30, it could be extended or revised if the circumstance so warrants.
The Indian Army (IA) has currently initiated action to procure 13 products that incorporate BIPAP machines, RDT Antigen and PCR Test kits, Virus Transport Media with Swab, Plasmapheresis, Masks, Full PPE sets, Waste Autoclave, Multifunctional ICU Bed, Manual Sprayer, Advanced Life Support and Type C Ambulances, and Oxygen Concentrators.
The choice to delegate the economic powers has been taken beneath the standing orders on Delegation of Financial Powers to Defence Services (DFPDS) notified by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 2016, which permit physical exercise of limitless economic powers by the Director General of Armed Forces Medical Service (DGAFMS) in the occasion of war, organic calamity, disaster, or any other operational crisis, supplied the circumstance is declared as an emergency by the government.
Going a step additional, the order issued by the MoD on April 23 authorises the Directors General Medical Services at all the SHQs to commit up to Rs 5 crore. Other health-related establishments at decrease echelons headed by two-star officers can commit up to Rs 3 crore, and these headed by one-star officers, up to Rs 2 crore.
It is unclear irrespective of whether this is the all round ceiling on expenditure, or it is the extent up to which expenditure can be incurred on every single occasion by the authorised officers without the need of any limit on all round expenditure.
Be that as it may perhaps, delegation of powers down the chain of command will undoubtedly boost the capability of the establishments close to the impacted locations to respond to the circumstance really speedily, but budgetary constraint could come in the way, particularly if these establishments are approached in a major way by the civil administration to support them in overcoming shortages of vaccine, protective gear, oxygen, and even quarantine and hospitalisation facility.
The IA appears to be readying itself for such an eventuality in which it may perhaps have to play a larger function, particularly in the countryside. The Army Headquarters have currently set up a Covid-19 management cell beneath the Director General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement -a 3-star officer reporting straight to the Vice Chief- to oversee help to the civil administration. Hopefully, this will not hamper coordination with DGAFMS, the senior-most military officer accountable for managing the health-related establishment across all the 3 services.
The government has also authorized engagement of 400 retired AFMS physicians for 11 months from amongst these who retired among 2017 and 2019. At a time when all readily available sources ought to be harnessed, the stipulation that only these who retired for the duration of the narrow window of two years can be thought of for short-term engagement is needlessly restrictive.
While there ought to be some procedural technicality behind this restrictive stipulation, it can’t be permitted to override the gravity of the circumstance that demands engagement of all these -physicians, nursing employees, laboratory assistants, and technicians- who are prepared to serve. Not that it would matter to these who served the armed forces selflessly just before retirement, but the remuneration getting supplied -last spend drawn and the specialist spend minus the pension- really should be a decent sufficient incentive.
These are minor challenges that MoD can conveniently overcome the actual lead to for be concerned, having said that, is the procedural complexities that so normally derail implementation of the nicely-which means measures announced by the government.
The FFPDS of 2016, for instance, enables a 3-member Emergency Empowered Committee (EEC) to be set up by DGAFMS for procuring requisite shops and services. The EEC is to stick to the process laid down in the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM), 2009. The committee can deviate from the prescribed process but only with the DGAFMS’s approval. This can take time.
It is not recognized irrespective of whether the decrease authorities, to whom powers have now been delegated, as well would be necessary to stick to the DPM process, apart from other procedural specifications such as mandatory procurement via the Government e-Marketplace. It would defeat the objective of delegation of economic energy if its physical exercise have been ensnared by these procedural complexities.
(The author is former Financial Advisor (Acquisition), Ministry of Defence. Views expressed are individual and do not reflect the official position or policy of TheSpuzz Online.)