‘We also hear cries’: SC asks govt to overhaul Covid plan
The Supreme Court on Friday asked the central government for a “substantial rethink of its policy decisions” on handling of the public heath emergency set off by the second Covid-19 wave, as it emphasised on the augmentation of medical oxygen, an overhaul of the vaccination programme to ensure equitable distribution, and deregulating exclusive intellectual property rights to boost the production of essential drugs.
Among the urgent suggestions the court made was that the Centre must consider increasing Delhi’s medical oxygen quota by 210 metric tonne (MT), raising it from the current 490MT, which has been a repeated demand of the Dehi government, and ensure that supply reaches the Capital.
“The intervention of the Supreme Court must make a difference in people’s lives. It must save some lives,” remarked the bench, headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, as it listed out the areas of concern where, it said, the government must “do some serious thinking on their policy decisions and revisit them”.
Reading out from a note prepared by him, justice Chandrachud highlighted that the focus areas of the court, in its first comprehensive intervention into the current Covid crisis, included the management and augmentation of medical oxygen with a
NEW DELHI:
“We also hear people crying… People have crossed our paths crying for a cylinder of oxygen. Today the ground situation in the national Capital is that there is no oxygen.”
“If there is a 200MT deficit then you should give that straight away to Delhi. Centre has an important responsibility as far as citizens of Delhi are concerned… Between today and Monday there will be 500 deaths on our hands.”
“Why isn’t the government buying 100% of doses? What is rationale of Centre and state pricing? Ultimately it is for the citizens of the same country. You have created this duopoly of manufacturers… But we cannot allow cooperative federalism when it comes to pricing of drugs… There is no point of different prices.”
“What happens to the marginalised people and SC/ST population living in far flung areas? Should they be left to the mercy of private vaccine manufacturers and hospitals? They will not be able to pay for the vaccines… You should adopt a national immunisation model to vaccinate people of all classes.”
“We have requested Centre for a policy for hospital admissions… We can order hospital admission cannot be denied for want of Aadhaar or residence proof.”
“You can declare a national emergency and then use your powers under the Patents Act so that anybody can manufacture these drugs on your licenses. This is a case where we should go for compulsory licensing… You have no less that 10 PSUS that can take over and start manufacturing.”