All medical personnel who retired from the armed forces in the last two years will be recalled and deployed at Covid facilities near their homes, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

Briefing the PM about preparations made by the armed forces to help in the country's war against the coronavirus pandemic, General Rawat said oxygen cylinders available with the military will be diverted to the hospitals that desperately need the life-line amid the surging Covid-19 wave.

Other retired medical officers have also been asked to provide consultations through emergency help lines, according to a government statement.

General Rawat also informed PM Modi that all medical officers on staff appointments at the military headquarters will be deployed at hospitals to support the overburdened health workers. Nursing staff will also be deployed to help doctors, he added.

The CDS also said the military was creating medical facilities in large numbers and the infrastructure will be opened for civilians wherever possible.

PM Modi also reviewed the operations being undertaken by the Air Force to ferry oxygen and other essentials within India and from abroad.