Rajnath Singh lays foundation for new specialty centres at Army Hospital (R&R), expands Base Hospital capacity in Delhi Cantt
New Delhi, April 6. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on April 6 laid the foundation stones for new Ophthalmology, Oncology and Joint Replacement Centres at Army Hospital (Research and Referral), alongside new infrastructure at Base Hospital Delhi Cantt, marking the 262nd Raising Day of the Army Medical Corps.
The upcoming specialty centres at Army Hospital (R&R) are intended to significantly enhance tertiary care within the Armed Forces Medical Services, particularly in advanced eye care, cancer treatment and complex joint replacement surgeries. The Base Hospital is being upgraded into a 998-bed facility with an additional 100 crisis-expansion beds to cater to both routine and emergency healthcare needs of defence personnel.
Addressing the gathering, Singh emphasised the need for continuous innovation, capacity building and integration of modern technologies in military medicine. He expressed confidence that the new facilities would ensure high-quality healthcare for serving personnel, veterans and their dependents.
The minister lauded the professionalism of AFMS personnel for delivering medical services across difficult terrains and during disasters, and highlighted outreach efforts such as medical camps in India and neighbouring countries, including Nepal. He noted that such initiatives, including glaucoma surgeries and eye care services, enhanced India’s soft power.
Reiterating the government’s priority to provide world-class healthcare to soldiers and their families, Singh called for greater focus on research, especially the integration of modern medical science with traditional knowledge systems. He pointed to India’s advances in expanding healthcare infrastructure and access, including institutions such as All India Institute of Medical Sciences and schemes like Ayushman Bharat, but noted that the country still lagged behind in frontier research areas such as early cancer detection, personalised medicine, cardiovascular predictive modelling and neuro-research in mental health.
Singh stressed the need for self-reliance in high-end pharmaceutical innovation, urging a shift from generic drug production to original research, stronger clinical research frameworks, and global quality standards. He advocated integrating MSMEs and start-ups into the pharmaceutical innovation ecosystem and building robust testing and research infrastructure.
Highlighting the importance of clinical trials, he said AFMS could contribute meaningfully to research and knowledge creation, not just treatment. He also called for standardised protocols to disseminate clinical experience across hospitals and proposed the creation of a national-level data pool to improve evidence-based treatment and policy formulation.
The Defence Minister acknowledged the heavy workload on doctors and urged better balancing of treatment responsibilities with research and training. He suggested upgrading command and base hospitals across the country to standards comparable with Army Hospital (R&R) through brownfield projects.
Linking health to national security, Singh said that soldiers perform with greater confidence when assured of superior medical support, making health security a key pillar of overall security preparedness.
During the visit, Singh witnessed live demonstrations and toured a technology exhibition showcasing innovations in trauma care, battlefield evacuation, prosthetics, telemedicine and critical care.
He also presented the Raksha Mantri Trophy for the Best Hospital of AFMS to Command Hospital (Southern Command), while the second-best hospital award went to INHS Asvini. A book titled Precision Protocols in Early Neurodevelopmental Intervention was released on the occasion, underscoring AFMS’s growing focus on research-driven practices.
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, DG AFMS Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, and other senior officers attended the event.
