Centre now looking at ways to tackle a possible third wave

With the second wave of Covid-19 overwhelming India’s hospital infrastructure and oxygen supply chain systems, the Centre is now looking at ways to tackle a possible third wave of the pandemic.

Demand for doctors and nursing staff apart, a huge need for trained manpower to manage both hospital functions and oxygen supply chain has been flagged and work has begun to address this shortfall.

An inter-ministerial meeting was held on Monday to explore skilling requirements in view of the pandemic and also to consider ways to ready a trained workforce for pandemic management in a short period of time, said people aware of the matter.


They said Union steel and petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan and housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Puri, among others, attended the meeting. A key requirement identified by the government is that of skilled manpower to assist hospitals and health facilities, especially since the number of patients who require constant monitoring and vigil has suddenly surged. This requirement becomes even more urgent when temporary health facilities and isolation facilities have to be set up at a short notice amid the crisis.

There is an urgent need of people trained in handling basic medical functions and duties such as operating testing machines, sample collection, assistance with diagnostics, patient assistance and limited hospital floor management. The Union skill development and entrepreneurship ministry has been asked to help develop a quick training module for these services, said those in the know.

The discussion on scaling up manpower comes at a time when the government is looking at setting up “jumbo hospitals” in various cities to cater to the large number of patients who need specialised care.

Meanwhile, the government is also seeking to address the scarcity of medical oxygen. It has already announced plans to set up 500 new oxygen pressure swing absorption (PSA) plants and oxygen generation units at various locations. Many of these plants are to be set up as part of a project steered by IIT Kanpur.

However, there are not enough people trained to manage the oxygen plants. Accordingly, a plan is now underway to train 5,000 Industrial Training Institute graduates in oxygen plant management.