'Not too late': Health minister on Manish Sisodia’s claim regarding Oxygen related Covid-deaths

The Aam Aadmi Party led Delhi government has been involved in a tussle with the Centre on the matter of deaths due to oxygen shortage in the national capital

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya responded to the Delhi government’s allegations that the Central government did not enquire about deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave in the national capital and said that it is not too late. The Delhi government can send the data by August 13, Mandaviya said attaching a screenshot of the mail sent by the ministry.

On Tuesday, in an online press conference, Manish Sisodia alleged that the Central government had not asked for data on deaths caused by a shortage of oxygen. (HT Photo)

“Respected Sisodia Ji, Here is the copy of the mail sent by my ministry to the Delhi government on 26th July. It's not too late yet! By August 13 you can send the data so that we can answer the question to Parliament. After reviewing with your officers, please send the necessary data as soon as possible,” Mandaviya tweeted on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, in an online press conference, Manish Sisodia alleged that the Central government had not asked for data on deaths caused by a shortage of oxygen. “I read in the paper that the Central government is saying it has asked state governments to furnish details on deaths due to lack of oxygen. News reports have also said that 13 states have responded and only 1 state has done so while 12 states have not. I also read in the papers that the Central government has given states till August 13 to tell them if oxygen-related deaths have happened. Ever since I read this in the papers, I have been asking administrators if any letter has come from the Centre, and till today no such letter has come. Delhi government has received no such letter from the Central government,” Sisodia said during an online briefing.

“We accept that the oxygen crisis happened during the last wave of the pandemic. And without any probe, it is difficult to say if that has caused deaths. I am going deeper into whether it has or has not. I am stressing on the importance of thorough investigation into cases of deaths that can be related to oxygen shortage,” he added.

The Union health ministry on Tuesday said 13 states and UTs of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab have responded to the query on oxygen deaths, with Punjab reporting “four suspected deaths” due to oxygen shortage. "When the question was raised in Parliament, states were specifically asked this question and as per reports received only one state mentioned suspected death and no state has so far said that there were deaths because of oxygen shortage," joint secretary Lav Agarwal said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government has been involved in a tussle with the Centre on the matter of deaths due to oxygen shortage in the national capital. On May 4, Delhi government told Delhi high court that an expert committee could not ascertain whether 21 deaths at the capital’s Jaipur Golden Hospital took place because of oxygen shortage. Delhi health minister Satyandar Jain defended the findings by reasoning that it was based on “preliminary investigation” and that the matter needed more thorough investigation. The AAP government also hit out at the Centre for not letting it set up a larger expert committee to probe the matter.