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Centre diverting oxygen supply to UP, depriving Bengal, alleges Mamata
Addressing journalists, Banerjee alleged discrimination even in vaccine distribution, claiming that while Gujarat has been given enough vaccine doses to cover 60% of the population, other states are not being allotted more than 15% -20%
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee alleged on Friday that the Union government is depriving her state of its quota of medical oxygen by diverting the supply to Uttar Pradesh.
Addressing journalists in Kolkata, Banerjee alleged discrimination even in vaccine distribution, claiming that while Gujarat has been given enough vaccine doses to cover 60% of the population, other states are not being allotted more than 15% -20%.
“SAIL [Steel Authority of India] used to supply oxygen to West Bengal. Yesterday, there was an instruction (from the Centre) that SAIL would now supply the same oxygen to Uttar Pradesh. Is Bengal a beggar? When it comes to elections, they (BJP) want to capture Bengal but when it comes to oxygen supply, they are diverting it to other states,” Banerjee told reporters, adding that she has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.
The West Bengal government has procured 5,000 cylinders of oxygen and diverted them to Covid-19 hospitals to meet the acute demand, she said, adding that “negotiations are on with one source to arrange for more cylinders”.
On distribution of vaccine among states, Banerjee said, “Gujarat has been given vaccines to cover 60% of its population, while other states have been given not more than 15% – 20%. In Gujarat, vaccination is being done at (BJP) party offices. We have asked for more vaccines and have urged the Centre to fix a rate.”
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The Centre has opened Covid-19 vaccination for everyone above the age of 18 from May 1, allowing vaccine-makers to sell in the open market in India at a pre-decided rate.
Banerjee said that as per a rough estimate, the Centre would need around ₹20,000 crore to vaccinate the entire population of India. “They have collected lakhs of crores of rupees in PM-Cares Fund. Can’t they give this money? How much is being spent to build a new Parliament building or a statue? And this is a question of life and death. All it takes is a second to decide,” said Banerjee, while attacking the Centre over its alleged failure tackle the second wave of corona.
“It is unfortunate that the BJP, in a bid to capture Bengal, pushed not just the state but the entire country into a crisis. It is total negligence,” she added.
The BJP hit back at the chief minister over her allegations. “The outgoing chief minister has been attacking the Prime Minister. Misleading statements are being made. Unfortunately, the state has not come up with any plan to fight Covid in the last three months. The state should inform the Centre of its requirement. But it hasn’t been done. The ruling party is doing politics during a crisis just to scare and confuse the people,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP spokesperson in the state.
“We really have doubts. The Centre would never do this – depriving one state to benefit another. Instead of making such allegations, the CM should cooperate in times of crisis,” said Jay Prakash Majumdar, vice president of BJP’s unit in West Bengal.
A senior official of SAIL said, “We have a stock of around 2,000 tons of liquid medical oxygen at our two plants at Durgapur Steel Plant and IISCO Steel Plant. It can be provided as per requirement.”
Later in the day, a statement released by the state government said that on April 21, the Centre allotted 200 MT of oxygen from different plants in West Bengal to outside the state.
“As per the current patient load and rising trend of infections, it is expected that the consumption level of oxygen in the state will radically rise to roughly 450 MT per day in the next couple of weeks. Hence, present allocation of liquid oxygen to outside West Bengal will jeopardise the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The state government has accordingly requested the Centre to consider the need of the state and not to divert the medical oxygen available in the state to elsewhere,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the state reported 11,948 fresh cases on Thursday and has around 65,000 active cases.
