The All India Defence Employees Federation (AIDEF) has offered to the Central Government the support of defence civilian employees in ordnance factories for manufacture of oxygen generation plants.
In a letter to the Director General of Factories and Chairman of Ornance Factory Boards, its general secretary C.Srikumar said in a crisis situation causing deaths of hundreds of COVID-infected patients due to non-availability of oxygen, OFB can prove its capability in utilising in-house expertise for the purpose.
In the wake of the Defence Minister directing OFB and Defence Public Sector Undertakings to immediately start manufacturing oxygen generation plants, OFC Kanpur has developed in-house a PSA (Pressure Swing Absorption) based oxygen generation plant. Similarly Machine Tool Prototype Factory, Ambernath, has successfully converted the existing PSA nitrogen unit into PSA oxygen unit. This unit takes air as input from atmosphere.
Producing oxygen was not very difficult. Pressure Swing Absorption technology was easy for adoption by ordnance factory units, he said.
The manufacture of oxygen generation plants can be made possible within a fortnight, based on design/specification support from MTPF, he said.
Considering the oxygen requirement of the nation to save the life of the people, we request you to take appropriate steps so that as in the last year OFB can play a vital role for the country and its people to save the life of the citizens who are affected by the second wave of COVID-19 virus, he said.
The emergency financial powers granted to the Armed Forces to meet India’s Covid-19 challenges has to be extended to OFB for setting up of COVID-19 facilities and COVID-19 related manufacturing facilities, he said.
