PM Modi chairs meets on infra crisis as cases, deaths soar

In his meeting with chief ministers of 11 worst-hit states and Union territories, Modi said the central government was working to increase oxygen production and ensure seamless supply across states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged all states to come together and work as one nation to ensure there is no scarcity of resources to arrest the second wave of Covid-19 that has triggered a deluge of infections, overwhelmed hospitals, and sparked a critical shortage of oxygen and medicines.

The meeting came on a day India posted its highest number of infections and deaths, at 345,159 and 2,622, respectively, straining further the country’s health infrastructure already burdened with the world’s worst outbreak.(File Photo)

In his meeting with chief ministers of 11 worst-hit states and Union territories, Modi said the central government was working to increase oxygen production and ensure seamless supply across states. He asked states to ensure widespread testing and vaccination and crackdown on black marketeering and hording of medicines and medical oxygen.

“The biggest basis of India’s success during the first wave of the pandemic was our united effort and united strategy… we will have to address this challenge in the same way,” he said in the virtual meeting.

“If we work as one nation, there will not be any scarcity of resources,” he added.

The meeting came on a day India posted its highest number of infections and deaths, at 345,159 and 2,622, respectively, straining further the country’s health infrastructure already burdened with the world’s worst outbreak.

The surge has left India devastated. Across the country, desperate patients are begging authorities for non-existent beds and hospitals are putting up SOS messages on social media with hours left for their oxygen supply to run out. Relatives of people who died of the disease are forming long queues outside makeshift crematoriums and graveyards that are running out of wood and space, with workers often working through the night. The ominous siren of ambulances has become a part of the soundscape of major cities.

Later in the day, Modi also met leading oxygen manufacturers and told them that this time was not only to deal with challenges, but also to provide solutions in a very short time. The PM stressed on the need to maintain good coordination between the government and the oxygen producers and spoke about utilising the full potential of the industry.

Modi also held an internal review meeting on the overall Covid-19 situation in the morning.

Chief ministers of some states asked the Prime Minister to help with removing hurdles in the supply of oxygen and medicines, and demanded that the price of vaccines to be used in phase 3 of the inoculation drive from May 1, when it opens up to all adults, should not cost more than earlier phases, when vaccine manufacturers supplied shots to the Centre at a subsidised price.

At the meeting, Modi also stressed on the importance of vaccination, which, experts say, is crucial in taming the ferocious surge in infections. He said that India was running the world’s largest vaccination programme and the Centre had provided 150 million doses free of cost to the states. He stressed on the importance of stepping up the drive from May 1, when it opens to all adults. Currently, only those above 45 can get vaccinated.

“Our vaccination programme should not slow down in this situation… we will also need to work in mission mode to get more and more people vaccinated,” he said.

PM Modi assured the Centre’s full support to all states and said there was a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply. He urged states to coordinate to fulfil requirements relating to medicines and oxygen, and check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines.

This came amid pitched battles between several states, especially Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, over oxygen supply. Delhi government has complained that neighbouring states are stopping tankers from entering the Capital, a charge refuted by the other two states. The Centre on Thursday invoked the Disaster Management Act to ensure unrestricted interstate supply of oxygen.

“Every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, whether it is meant for any state, is stopped or gets stranded,” Modi said.

He asked states to set up a high-level co-ordination committee to carry oxygen to different hospitals of the state. “This coordination committee should ensure that as soon as there is allotment of oxygen from the Centre, it can deliver oxygen as per requirement in different hospitals of the state immediately,” he said.

Modi said the central government was working on all possible options to reduce the travel and turnaround time of oxygen tankers, including Oxygen Express by the railways and roping in the air force.

Modi said added the Union health ministry was monitoring the situation closely.

He said that along with upgrading of resources, the country had to focus on testing. His comments came amid complaints of long delays and shortage of kits for testing in several states.

“Along with all measures for treatment of the patients, hospital safety is also very important… administrative staff of the hospital needs to be made more aware about the safety protocols,” he said, expressing grief about recent incidents of oxygen leakage and fire at hospitals in Maharashtra. He also urged the administration to make people aware so that they did not indulge in panic buying.

At the meeting, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh said that the new vaccination policy for 18+ people was unfair to the states, and demanded central funding. He said his government adopted all measures to minimise the demand for oxygen and asked the Centre to ensure all commitments as per allocation were complied with by oxygen manufacturers in other states. “This is not happening at present. Punjab’s supplies come from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and there are reports of supplies being ‘hijacked’,” he said.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said he sought information about the quantity of vaccines the state will get from the Centre from May 1. ”We asked how many vaccines will be given to us by the Centre. We also asked that there should be one rate of vaccines for Centre and the states.”

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded additional medical oxygen for the state, adequate supply of vaccines, and permission to import medicines to tackle the surge in Covid-19 cases. He also demanded that oxygen be airlifted if possible, an official release said.

Maharashtra requires 1,550 metric tonnes of medical oxygen to treat coronavirus patients every day and about 300 to 350 metric tons is being procured from outside, he said. Instead of distant states, if the supply could be arranged from neighbouring states, it would be available early, he said, according to the statement.

Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa urged the Centre to supply 1,471 tonnes of oxygen and 200,000 doses of Remdesivir.