In Gujarat, Congress, BJP spar over ventilators
Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said almost six weeks after Dhaman-1 ventilators were installed at the hospital on April 4, doctors there sought more saying these machines did not work. He alleged the BJP government projected a mechanised AMBU (Artificial Manual Breathing Unit) bag as a ventilator.
The Congress on Saturday demanded a judicial probe into the alleged use of “non-approved” ventilators for Covid-19 patients in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Gujarat. It alleged the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) had not approved the ventilators and as a result the Covid-19-related mortality rate is the highest at the Ahmedabad Civil hospital where these machines were installed.
Congress spokesman Pawan Khera said almost six weeks after Dhaman-1 ventilators were installed at the hospital on April 4, doctors there sought more saying these machines did not work. He alleged the BJP government projected a mechanised AMBU (Artificial Manual Breathing Unit) bag as a ventilator.
“They played with the lives of patients. Why was Dhaman-1 approved and installed when it had been tested on just one patient and without a licence by DCGI?” Khera asked. “We also want to know if the PM Cares Fund [to deal with the pandemic] was used to buy 5,000 pieces of Dhaman-1 through [the state-owned] HLL Lifecare. All these answers can be found through an independent judicial inquiry.”
Gujarat’s principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi responded to the charges, saying the first batch of 10 ventilators was tested, certified and supplied on April 18. “Jyoti CNC [the manufacturer] supplied 866 ventilators free of cost to the Gujarat government when the entire world was facing shortage of ventilators.”
Ravi added Dhaman-1 and other ventilators do not need DCGI licenses. “The [Union] ministry of health and family welfare issued a notification on February 11, 2020, effect from April 1, 2020, that lists 37 medical equipments that require the manufacturers to obtain licenses for their products. Ventilators are not a part of this list...”
Ravi said Jyoti CNC produced the ventilators based on standards of Bureau of Indian Standards. She added Dhaman-1 fits the necessary standards the Centre has set. She added the company had taken necessary approvals from a state government agency. Ravi said trials are done of medicines and medical equipment not ventilators. “The indigenously produced ventilator underwent the performance test and it showed positive results.”
Ravi said a live demonstration of the ventilator was held at the Civil Hospital on April 9 and the company incorporated the necessary changes suggested. “It is absolutely amoral to put allegations of corruption...”
Khera asked chief minister Vijay Rupani why Gujarat had “such shocking data” on Covid-19 patients. He said 11% of the total coronavirus cases and 22% of deaths related to the disease in the country were reported from Gujarat. “Why this high mortality? Why the high mortality in Ahmedabad in particular...why the highest mortality is in the civil hospital, where these machines were installed?”
Khera alleged the machines were donated under corporate social responsibility funds by a company in which a Surat-based businessman, who donated the monogrammed suit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he wore during former US President Barack Obama’s visit to India in 2015, has a stake. He asked why Dhaman-1 was marketed within and outside the state as a ventilator when it is not one. “Why Dhaman-1 was allowed to be sold to other states and why HLL Lifecare, a PSU [public sector undertaking], was allowed to order 5,000 pieces.”
