Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday expressed concern over increasing COVID-19 cases in Central Armed Police Forces like the BSF and said safety and wellbeing of the troops are Modi government’s priority.
Shah also directed for proper arrangements for healthcheck-up and treatment of ‘COVID warriors’ and timely payment of dues in caseof casualties, a home ministry statement said.
The issue of a large number of coronavirus cases in theCAPFs was discussed at a high-level meeting, chaired by Shah and attended bydirectors general of BSF, CRPF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and NSG and senior homeministry officials.
As many as 530 CAPFs personnel have tested COVID-19 positiveso far while five personnel succumbed to the disease – two each from the BSFand the CISF and one from the CRPF, officials said. Among the activecoronavirus cases, 221 were in BSF, 161 in CRPF, 35 in CISF, 94 in ITBP and atleast 17 in SSB.
Shah asked the senior officers to ensure important thingslike timely payment of dues, including ex-gratia, insurance in case ofcasualty, the statement said.
He also asked the officers present to be in touch withaffected personnel and their families, ensure proper arrangements for theirhealth check up and treatment, including establishment of a dedicated hospitalor facility for COVID-19 affected CAPF personnel and also increasing effectivetracing and testing facilities.Shah also suggested that there should be sharingof best practices among the CAPFs and also laying down the Standard OperatingProcedure for health related as well as management issues, like sanitisationand ensuring the use of appropriate protective gear by the personnel etc.