Kriti Agrawal
The Central government claimed in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court’s Suo motu case on the covid-19 crisis that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is directly involved in the process of procuring oxygen supply.
According to the government, steps to supplement oxygen supply are being taken on a war footing, and novel solutions are being introduced to address the problem.
The affidavit said, “The Central Government, with active and constant supervision and direct involvement of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Hon’ble Home Minister, is augmenting the oxygen supply on a war footing evolving and implementing innovative measures.”
On Tuesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta brought the matter to the Court’s attention.
He said, “We should all be proud that this issue is being looked into by the Prime Minister and all political parties are coordinating across party lines.”
The Centre also reported that it is attempting to obtain oxygen from all available sources within India as well as importing oxygen from other countries.
The following steps are being taken to that end:
- Granting licenses to industrial gas producers to produce medical oxygen;
- Increased production in steel plants, as well as other initiatives carried out by the Ministry of Steel;
- Increasing the demand of medical oxygen by other manufacturers;
- Restriction on the use of oxygen in industry;
- Tanker availability will be increased.
- Plants for Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) are being put into operation.
The 106-page affidavit also outlined the Centre’s efforts to address pandemic-related issues. These include COVID-19 testing facility initiatives, lockout, benefits for frontline staff, increasing hospital bed and equipment availability, funding to states, and so on.
The Centre submitted that, “Fully sensitive to the miseries being faced by the citizens during this second wave of COVID crisis and is taking urgent and concrete and comprehensive steps to mitigate the miseries of the citizens and loss of life during this unprecedented strain on our health infrastructure.”
