Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh awarded Raksha Mantri Trophy for the Best and Second Best Command Hospitals of the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for the year 2018, heretoday. Command Hospital Air Force Bengaluru and Command Hospital Central Command Lucknow adjudged Best and the Second-Best Command Hospital respectively. The awards werereceived by Air Vice Marshal Deepak Gaur and Maj Gen Vivek Sharma, the commandants of the two respective hospitals.The Raksha Mantri while complementing the two hospitals on their outstanding performance, acknowledged the commendable service being rendered by the AFMS, ranging from combat medical support to troops deployed in operational roles to state-of-the-art healthcare services at mid-zonal, zonal and tertiary care hospitals of the AFMS. The RM said, since the time of Acharya Charak medical profession and its proponents have been revered by the society and exhorted that endeavour should be made by these Command hospitals to maintain it.
Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and Senior Col Comandant, Army Medical CorpsLt Gen Bipin Puri while speaking on the occasion, emphasised the preparedness of the AFMS to meet all challenges in providing medical support both during operations and in peacetime as well as when called upon to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. He reiterated the resolute commitment of the AFMS to strive forprofessional excellence at all times.The Raksha Mantri Trophy was instituted in 1989 to recognise excellence in healthcare services provided by Command Hospitals of the AFMS and to foster a spirit of healthy competition among them. A selection committee headed by an AFMS officer of the rank of Lt Gen/equivalent with the Joint Secretary (Navy), Ministry of Defence as a member recommends hospitals for the award each year via a comprehensive selection process based on objective performance indicators assessed during on-site visits to the hospitals.The award ceremony was attended by Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and other officials.