Amid several states flagging scarcity of medical oxygen in the COVID-19 fight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said Railways and Air Force are being deployed to reduce the transportation time for oxygen tankers and all state government need to work together to meet requirements of life-saving gas and medicines.
Chairing a high-level meeting on the COVID-19 situation with chief ministers of 11 states and Union Territories which have reported the maximum number of cases recently, Modi called for working together to fight the pandemic with collective power.
He said the biggest basis of India’s success during the first wave of the pandemic was our united efforts and united strategy and reiterated that we will have to address this challenge in the same way.
He assured the Centre’s full support to all the states and in this fight.
On oxygen supply, PM Modi took note of the points raised by the states and said there is a continuous effort to increase oxygen supply, according to a statement issued by his office.
Modi said every state should ensure that no oxygen tanker, irrespective of its destination, is stopped or gets stranded, a statement said.
The prime minister’s call for coordination and working together to meet the spiralling health crisis comes amid multiple reports of medical oxygen supply being stopped at borders of one state or the other during transit.
It was the prime minister’s third meeting with chief ministers in the last five weeks, while he also held his fourth review meeting in one week to review the oxygen availability situation, officials said.
Modi asked states to take stringent measures against hoarding and black marketing of essential medicines and injections.
He also called for making people continuously aware so that they do not indulge in panic buying.