All Army personnel from Nepal and presently on leave there are to remain at their home stations till the COVID-19 situation in the neighbouring nation stabilises and the government opens the border for movement of personnel, Army sources said on Monday.
These are part of the broad guidelines issued by the Army for those rejoining from leave, temporary duty and courses.
Requisite instructions would accordingly be passed to such personnel from their parent units, headquarters or establishments, the sources said.
Separately, the Unified Commanders Conference (UCC), which was scheduled to be held on April 22 and 23 has been postponed, defence sources said.
The UCC is an annual event chaired by the Defence Minister and attended by the three Service Chiefs and senior officers of the Services and the Defence Ministry in addition to the Minister of State for Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff and the National Security Advisor.
The sources stated that the overall guidelines for rejoining have been planned in a phased manner considering the number of individuals rejoining and the requirement for smooth reporting, quarantine and onward dispersal to units.
The instructions state that personnel will rejoin only on receipt of specific instructions from unit, formation or establishment that has granted leave or temporary duty. Any individual whose leave station is within 500 km of the unit or duty station is allowed to directly report to the unit using private transport only, while individuals who are beyond the 500-km criteria will report to nearest unit, station headquarter in private vehicle only.
The Army has also stated that orders for reporting do not apply to ‘hotspots, containment zones’. Individuals in hotspots and containment zones would follow strict 'No Movement' till the areas were denotified as containment zones.
Classification
The sources said all personnel in the Army would be classified as Green, Yellow and Red. Those who have completed 14 days of quarantine would be classified as Green, those who need to undergo 14 days quarantine as Yellow and those symptomatic, requiring isolation and further treatment in COVID-19 hospitals, as Red.
As per instructions, the first priority for rejoining is for all ranks of the Northern Command and all Army medical, dental and Military Nursing Services personnel, as well as other personnel with the unit or duty stations within 500 km and can reach by private transport.
The next priority is for all ranks of the Eastern Command in addition to officers and key appointments of other Commands as decided by the respective Commands.
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