In yet another chapter to the Centre-State blame game over the supply of Remdesivir and oxygen, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the State, the worst-hit in the country, had been allocated barely 26,000 injections of Remdesivir by the Centre as against its requirement of 50,000 vials daily.
Speaking in Mumbai, Mr. Tope said he would write to the Centre to increase the allocation of Remdesivir to Maharashtra.
“The State government’s daily requirement is 50,000 Remdesivir injections, but the Centre’s allocation for the next 10 days is just 26,000 injections per day. I appeal to the Centre to allot more injections to Maharashtra as the situation here is grave. I will be writing to the Union Health Ministry in this regard,” he said.
The Centre on Wednesday had detailed an allocation of 2.69 lakh vials for Maharashtra till the end of this month. This translates into less than 30,000 vials per day.
Likewise, Mr. Tope appealed to the Centre to increase Maharashtra’s oxygen allocation quota as well.
“The oxygen distribution quota is in the Centre’s hands. I humbly request the Centre to ensure safe transport by transporting the oxygen through a ‘green corridor’ to Maharashtra,” said the Health Minister.
Remarking that the pandemic situation in the State had spiralled out of control, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut urged the Centre to stop according ‘step-motherly treatment’ to Maharashtra in terms of supply of oxygen, vaccines and medicines.
“We need 80,000 vials of Remdesivir per day. Yet, why is the State getting less from the Centre? Who are the people who are playing with the lives of the people of Maharashtra?” said Mr. Raut.
Meanwhile, the BJP’s Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Pravin Darekar, hit back at both the ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ government leaders (Mr. Tope and Mr. Raut), while remarking that it was high time the State government stopped pointing fingers at the Centre instead of doing something on its own to curb the spread of the virus.
“It appears that if anything happens, the Uddhav Thackeray government first begins to blame the Centre. The Central government has already raised Maharashtra’s oxygen supply quota to more than 1,600 MT. Now, whose responsibility is it to get that oxygen for the State? The leaders of the MVA government cannot even arrange for tankers or special flights to procure that oxygen,” said Mr. Darekar, accusing the State government of attempting to cutting corners instead of utilising the taxpayer’s money to save lives.
