SC task force to audit O2 usage nationwide
12-member panel of medical luminaries to revamp formula for allocating oxygen to states; simultaneous audit ordered in Delhi
The Supreme Court has set up a 12-member national task force to revamp the Centre’s formula for allocating medical oxygen to states while also ordering an immediate oxygen utilisation audit in Delhi, which has to get 700 metric tonne (MT) of the life-saving gas every day under the apex court’s orders despite the Union government’s reluctance to give it that much.
As India battles its worst wave of Covid-19 infections that have overwhelmed health care facilities across the country, demand for medical oxygen has soared, and several states have sought more oxygen from the Centre, which is in charge of allocating what has become the most precious medical commodity right now.
A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah emphasised that the existing deficiencies in the oxygen allocation formula required to be rectified by devising a new method on “scientific, rational and equitable basis”.
The task force must take up the “pressing issue of determining the modalities for oxygen expeditiously within a week”, the order passed on May 6 said. It was released on Saturday evening. The task force, which has a term of six months initially and will include 10 medical experts from across the country for devising a “public health response” mechanism, has been requested to come up with a new formula of oxygen allocation; recommendations for augmentation of oxygen; measures necessary for ensuring the availability of essential drugs; best practices for management and treatment of Covid-19; measures to ensure adequate health care professionals; and outreach of expert medical care to rural areas.
The task force will submit its recommendations to the Supreme Court and to the Centre, which will have to then take appropriate decisions. The apex court may also pass suitable orders based on these recommendations.
The order said the task force should also facilitate audits to be conducted by sub-groups within each state and Union Territory to scrutinise whether the allocated quantity of oxygen reached states as well as to pin accountability on states regarding its utilisation and distribution.
About Delhi, the court reiterated its direction to the Centre to “strictly” keep supplying 700MT oxygen per day pending further orders but at the same time, accepted solicitor general Tushar Mehta’s request for carrying out an audit immediately to ensure that the oxygen was being distributed by the Delhi government in an efficient and transparent manner.
During the proceedings on Friday, while the S-G maintained that Delhi’s requirement was between 500 and 600MT per day and that the deficit in hospitals, if any, was due to the inefficiency and systemic failure on the part of the Delhi government, senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the city-state’s government, objected to any such audit for the national capital.
However, the bench has now set up a committee comprising Dr Randeep Guleria (director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi), Dr Sandeep Budhiraja (director, Max Healthcare) and one joint secretarylevel officer each from the Centre and Delhi government “to ensure a measure of accountability for the proper distribution of oxygen supplies” made available to the city government.
“The purpose is to ensure that the supplies which have been allocated are reaching their destination; that they are being made available through the distribution network to the hospitals,” said the court.