NO DEATHS DUE TO LACK OF O2, GOVT TELLS RS

Rajya Sabha on Tuesday discussed the Covid-19 situation in the country. Leading the charge, leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “failed” in tackling the pandemic and made former health minister Harsh Vardhan a scapegoat for the “mismanagement” of the health crisis.

He added that the government’s Covid death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conservative and claimed the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far in the country.

“The government failed to tackle the pandemic,” the LoP said, pointing out that it imposed a sudden lockdown in 2020 that affected migrants, impacted the economy and “created unemployment and the problem of inflation. There was a shortage of beds, ventilators and oxygen but still the government is saying it has successfully managed the situation, he said on the second wave. While other countries were preparing for tackling second wave, Modi government was holding elections violating its own Covid protocols, he said.

Meanwhile, the government informed Rajya Sabha that there were no deaths due to lack of oxygen that were specifically reported by states and UTs during the second Covid wave.

Responding to a question on whether a large number of Covid-19 patients died on roads and hospitals due to acute shortage of oxygen in the second wave, Minister of state for health Bharati Pawar noted that health is a state subject and states and UTs regularly report the number of cases and deaths to the Centre.

“Detailed guidelines for reporting of deaths have been issued by the Union health ministry to all states and Union Territories. However, no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states and UTs,” Pawar said.