Centre Writes To States, Seeks Report On Number of Deaths Due to Oxygen Shortage During 2nd Wave

Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that oxygen supply to hospitals is determined by contractual arrangements between the hospitals and the medical oxygen supplier.

Published: July 27, 2021 8:00 PM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Victor Dasgupta

Ensure Regular Supply of Medical Oxygen In Case Of Covid Emergency, Centre To State Amid BF.7 Fear
Ensure Regular Supply of Medical Oxygen In Case Of Covid Emergency, Centre To State Amid BF.7 Fear (File photo)

New Delhi: The Modi government wrote to the states on Tuesday and sought data on the numbers of deaths caused due to the lack of oxygen during the second wave Covid-19 pandemic, according to a News18 report. The data will be collated and presented in Parliament before the monsoon session ends on August 13, the report further added.

Earlier, the Central government, while responding to a question on the shortage of oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic, said no state/UT reported deaths of Covid-19 patients due to lack of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) during the second wave.

The statement was in the form of a written response to a question raised by Congress MP KC Venugopal in the Rajya Sabha.

Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that oxygen supply to hospitals is determined by contractual arrangements between the hospitals and the medical oxygen supplier. “Health is a state subject. However, no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states and Union Territories,” she had said.

No deaths due to oxygen shortage in Madhya Pradesh: Vishwas Kailash Sarang

Madhya Pradesh saw no deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Centre’s statement made in the Rajya Sabha in this regard is a fact, said Minister for Medical Education of the State Vishwas Kailash Sarang on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters here after meeting Tamil Nadu Medical and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian, the Madhya Pradesh Minister thanked the Centre for its efforts to address the demand for oxygen, including the use of IAF flights and trains for transport of the gas.

“In our State, no death has happened anywhere due to oxygen shortage. Like the Central Minister said in the House, that is the truth,” he said in an apparent reference to the written reply of Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. “The truth is that deaths have not happened due to oxygen shortage…during corona time, we procured 600 metric tonne (of oxygen) per day while our maximum consumption was 457 metric tonne,” Sarang said.

Maharashtra: Not a single death due to lack of oxygen in state, says Rajesh Tope

Maharashtra did not see a single death due to lack of oxygen when Covid-19 was peaking, claimed state health minister Rajesh Tope. “Not a single patient has died due to lack of oxygen during the peak of Covid-19 in Maharashtra. Proper management of oxygen was done, always, Tope said.

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