No state reported deaths due to O2 shortage during pandemic: Health ministry

In response to a question from the BJP’s Mahesh Poddar, Union minister of state for health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Rajya Sabha that none of the states/UTs have reported deaths due to oxygen shortage

A few states provided data and none reported any deaths due to oxygen shortage during the Covid-19 pandemic, Union minister of state for health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

No state reported any Covid-19 deaths due to oxygen shortage, Union minister Pawar said in Parliament. 

In response to a question from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Mahesh Poddar, Pawar said health is a state subject. “The government of India has maintained data of total cases and deaths reported by states/ Union Territories on a regular basis… A few states/ UTs have responded and none of the states/UTs have reported deaths due to oxygen shortage,” she said.

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya told Lok Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament on December 3 that request for data on the subject was emailed to all states and UTs. He added only two states, Punjab and Arunachal Pradesh, have responded.

Pawar on Tuesday said the National Disaster Management Authority has recommended ₹50,000 compensation each to the kin of people certified to have died of Covid-19. She added the states will pay the compensation from State Disaster Response Funds.

Pawar said the oxygen availability in the country has been enhanced through an increase in production capacity and by setting up Pressure Swing Adsorption plants, import of liquid medical oxygen and through the procurement of concentrators.