As fresh Covid-19 infections and deaths continue to rise, overwhelming India’s healthcare system, the Prime Minister’s Office has allowed funding through the PM Cares Fund to set up 551 oxygen plants across the country,
“In line with prime minister’s direction of boosting availability of oxygen to hospitals, the PM CARES Fund has given in-principle approval for allocation of funds for installation of 551 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country,” a government statement said.
The Prime Minister, it said, has directed that these plants should be made functional as soon as possible. He said these plants will serve as a major boost to oxygen availability at the district level.
That comes as India’s social media is full of images of the sick and dying. Some cities, including the national capital Delhi, are facing shortage of oxygen and people have taken to social media to seek help. Several hospitals in Delhi regularly tweet about shortage of oxygen, critical to treat seriously ill Covid-19 patients.
The new oxygen plants, according to the statement, will be established in identified government hospitals in district headquarters in various states and union territories. The procurement will be done through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
In Maharashtra, the plants will be set up in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Parbhani, Osmanabad, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli, Akola, Buldhana, Washim, Wardha, Yavatmal, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli.
The PM CARES Fund had earlier this year allocated Rs.201.58 crore for installation of additional 162 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country.
The government statement, however, didn’t elaborate how many of those were built.
