Since Oct. 2020, 10,787 ventilators installed in hospitals: Home Ministry

The Union Home Ministry claimed in an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Tuesday that since October 2020 as many as 10,787 ventilators have been installed in varied hospitals throughout the nation.

There is a sudden upsurge in demand for ventilator beds in many States amid the second wave of COVID-19 with over 3 lakh circumstances being reported day by day. Many sufferers with severe circumstances require ventilators for lung help.

The Ministry stated that post-April 1, following requests by the State governments, 3,835 further ventilators had been dispatched. It stated that in April, “oxygen concentrators received in donation from other sources” had additionally been given to the States.

The Ministry stated the machines had been bought by the Union Health Ministry and there was no point out in the affidavit in the event that they had been procured from the PM-CARES fund.

The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was created on March 27, 2020. Though the federal government has claimed that it’s a “public charitable trust,” it’s not topic to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General or answerable beneath the Right to Information Act (RTI).

In an announcement on May 13, 2020, the Prime Minister’s Office stated PM-CARES would allocate ₹3,100 crore for COVID-19 aid, together with funds for ventilators, migrant employees and vaccine growth.

On March 12, the Union Health Ministry informed the Lok Sabha that until March 5, as many as 35,269 out of 38,867 ventilators had been installed and the “total amount incurred by the government for procurement” was ₹1,850.76 crore.

The affidavit stated that earlier than the pandemic, “India had only around 16,000 ventilators in its public sector hospitals” and earlier than April 2020 orders had been positioned for 60,948 ventilators, together with 58,850 items beneath the Make-in-India initiative.

The affidavit additionally stated that India has just one,224 oxygen tankers with a capability of 16,732 MT and that’s being elevated to 2,000 by changing 600 nitrogen and argon tankers to move oxygen.

It stated 138 cryogenic tankers to move oxygen had been being imported. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) plant in Nashik can also be manufacturing 50 tankers.

Additional cylinders

The affidavit stated orders had been positioned for added 1,27,000 oxygen cylinders on April 21 and deliveries would begin by April 30.

It talked about that an empowered group of officers had requested the States with excessive case load to record their demand of medical oxygen. It stated that whereas the demand in Maharashtra was anticipated to be past the accessible manufacturing capability of the State, States like Madhya Pradesh didn’t have any manufacturing capability to satisfy their demand for medical oxygen.

On April 18, six States — Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh — expressed concern over the allotted medical oxygen.

“It is apparent that there has been a sudden increase in the projected medical oxygen required as on April 20 between the initial estimate and revised estimate submitted by Delhi (133%) and Uttar Pradesh (100%),” the Ministry stated. The forecast for requirement of medical oxygen by 12 States had been revised to six,593 MT for April 30 from 4,880 MT projected on April 20.