First dedicated Department of Military Medicine comes up in Lucknow
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated India's first dedicated Department of Military Medicine in Lucknow. The facility aims to enhance combat medical readiness, research, and specialized care for soldiers in extreme environments.
Why it matters
This initiative marks a strategic shift toward specialized military healthcare, focusing on modern threats like chemical warfare and the integration of AI in battlefield medicine.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) virtually inaugurated the Department of Military Medicine at the Command Hospital (Central Command) in Lucknow. This is India’s first dedicated academic and operational department focused exclusively on military medicine.
Established under the Directorate General of Medical Services (Army), the new department seeks to strengthen operational medical preparedness of the Armed Forces Medical Services by improving combat medical readiness, research, development of indigenous doctrines, and specialised expertise for battlefields and humanitarian contingencies, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The facility will be developed in phases, starting with academic programmes before expanding into Centres of Excellence for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) defence, with the long-term goal of growing into an internationally recognised hub for military medicine.
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