Another case of states and Centre sparring? Did the ventilators supplied to states under PM Cares fail the users or did the users fail to operate the ventilators or is it politics failing the patients?
Stung by charges made by states such as Punjab and Rajasthan, the Centre on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s orders has kickstarted an "immediate" audit of installation and operational status of ventilators provided by the central government under different schemes including PM Cares.
This comes after Congress-ruled Punjab and Rajasthan said the ventilators supplied to them under PM Cares were found “defective and sub-standard” by hospitals who used them. A Rajasthan minister called the ventilators manufactured in India as “kabaad” or junk.
Source: NDTV, Ravish Kumar
The Punjab government claimed that anesthetists in its hospitals were not confident of using them even after repairs. Heads of three Punjab government medical colleges claimed that at least 237 of the 320 ventilators received through the PM Cares Fund were defective and non-functional.
Punjab’s Covid-19 response and procurement committee head Dr. Raj Bahadur last week said, “The Patiala medical college got 98 ventilators from the PM Cares Fund. Of these, 48 were functional after repair, but they are still not in use because the anesthetists are not confident as they fear the machines may break down and jeopardies the lives of patients.”
Union health ministry strongly contests the charges. It said there was nothing wrong with the ventilators supplied under Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM Cares) Fund. The ministry claimed the states mismanaged their utilization that included keeping the machines unutilized or uninstalled in their stores for almost six months while Covid-19 patients were gasping for breath due to shortage of ventilators.
News Source: Indiatoday
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