V. K. Singh

CHENNAI: Director-General of Armed Forces Medical Services V. K. Singh on Saturday expressed dismay at the ``lack'' of adequate response from the State Governments including Tamil Nadu to the problems faced by the kin of the personnel of the Armed Forces.

Vice-Admiral Singh told reporters here that the ``slow response'' from States to issues relating to the families of the jawans had disturbed the Chief of Army Staff also.

``We will be writing to the Home Ministry seeking its intervention in this regard,'' he said.

Whenever the kin of the jawans came across problems such as admission of their children to educational institutions and attempts made to grab their land, the local administration should come to their rescue and tackle these issues, he said.

Though the Army had been taking all steps to ensure the well being of the families of the jawans, it was unable to reach out to those who were scattered in villages. Hence, the job had to be done by the police and the civil administration, he said.

In 1960s and 1970s, police and other officers in the districts used to respond quickly if such problems were brought to their notice.

The ``slow response'' experienced now had been a cause of worry in the minds of the jawans, though their morale was very high.

Denying that the Military Hospitals had been suffering from dearth of medicine or equipment, he said the Defence Ministry had earmarked Rs.432 crore for modernisation of 150 military hospitals in the country in a phased manner.

Hi-tech hospital

The military hospital in Chennai would be upgraded as a hi-tech hospital by providing necessary modern equipment including a CT Scan facility at a total cost of around Rs.40 crore. Connectivity would be provided to all these hospitals under telemedicine system, he said.

Treatment had been offered to ex-servicemen and their families in military hospitals and polyclinics under the Employees Contributory Health Scheme. Under the ongoing programme, all polyclinics in the country would become operational by March 31, 2008.

Civilians who came for emergencies were also treated in military hospitals, he said.

The AFMS, with a total strength of 1.25 lakh personnel including 75,000 personnel in uniform, had been catering to the medical needs of the Armed Forces spread over the country including Siachen, the highest battle field in the world, and the deserts of Rajasthan, he said.

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