Governent sets up control room for states to notify oxygen supplies
Three joint secretary-level nodal officers – from the health ministry, the Department of Industry and the drugs controller’s office – are monitoring the situation at the central level to ensure there is no gap in supply.
The Centre has held extensive meetings with the states and directed state governments to create control rooms to monitor stocks.
NEW DELHI: With a rise in Covid patients needing oxygen, the health ministry has set up a control room to ensure availability of oxygen cylinders.
“We have set up a virtual control room where state governments can inform if there is any shortage,” said health secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
Three joint secretary-level nodal officers – from the health ministry, the Department of Industry and the drugs controller’s office – are monitoring the situation at the central level to ensure there is no gap in supply.
The ministry has held a series of meetings with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary, pharmaceuticals secretary, health secretaries and industries secretaries of various states to discuss ways to ensure adequate oxygen availability in all healthcare facilities and unrestricted intra-state and interstate movement of oxygen.
“It is important that every state ensures proper oxygen inventory management in the hospitals. A possible stock-out alert has to be generated so that oxygen can be replenished. We have also asked the states to set up control rooms at the state level,” said Bhushan.
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At the national level there is, in fact, a surplus of oxygen, said Bhushan. “As of Tuesday, there is a surplus of 1,900 metric tonnes. The problem happens at a facility level if they don’t have inventory management,” he said.
On Sunday, the health ministry had urged seven states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh – to ensure adequate oxygen availability in all healthcare facilities. The ministry held a virtual meeting on Tuesday with participation of state health secretaries and industries secretaries of various states and Union Territories.
The states were advised to ensure facility-wise and hospital-wise oxygen inventory management and advance planning for timely replenishment so that there is no stock-out. The states were also asked to ensure that no restriction is imposed on the movement of medical oxygen between states and Union Territories.
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