Constituents in distress, lawmakers press for O2

Legislators suggest decentralisation to help ease the situation

Cutting across party lines and looking out for the interests of their constituents with less than a year to go for the state assembly elections, lawmakers in Uttar Pradesh have urged the state government to expedite the supply of oxygen to hospitals in their respective districts to save the lives of Covid-19 patients.

In a tweet, former UP finance minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Bareilly Cantonment MLA Rajesh Agarwal urged CM Yogi Adityanath to ensure the supply of oxygen to hospitals in Bareilly district. He said that the hospitals in Bareilly required 25-30 MT (metric tonnes) of oxygen daily.

Jawahar Lal Rajput, the BJP MLA from Garautha assembly constituency in Jhansi, said the hospitals in Jhansi were facing an oxygen crisis. “I have written a letter to the chief minister and informed the officers in the chief minister’s office as well. On Monday, I talked to chief secretary RK Tiwari to expedite the supply of oxygen to Jhansi (from the stock) that Uttar Pradesh has received from Bokaro (Jharkhand) and the central government,” he said.

Rajput said that in order to expedite the supply of oxygen to hospitals in the seven districts of Bundelkhand region, the state government should run an Oxygen Express train to the oxygen plant at Rourkela Steel Plant in Odisha.

“In comparison to Bokaro, it will take less time to get lifesaving oxygen from the Rourkela

Steel Plant for the Bundelkhand region,” he said.

BJP MLA from Bairia seat in Ballia Surendra Singh said, “I have sent a letter to the chief minister to ensure the rapid supply of oxygen to hospitals in Ballia district. The hospitals in the districts are facing an acute oxygen crisis. Rather than centralized supply from Lucknow, the state government should decentralize the oxygen supply across the state. The Oxygen Express and tankers should unload oxygen in east UP, rather than in Lucknow,” he said.

Leader of Opposition and Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Bansdih in Ballia Ram Govind Chaudhary said, “I am regularly drawing the attention of the state government toward the oxygen crisis not only in Ballia, but also in various other districts of the state. I have told the chief minister that officers are misguiding him and giving wrong data regarding supply of oxygen to various districts. Since Saturday, the officers are saying that oxygen is reaching the hospitals in east UP. Three days have passed, but oxygen has not reached the hospitals,” he said. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Bhinga Aslam Raini said, “I am writing letters regularly to the chief minister’s office to draw attention to the lack of health facilities in the hospitals in Shravasti, Balrampur and Bahraich districts. The government and private hospitals located in these three districts are facing oxygen shortage and several patients have died. The supply of oxygen by road to districts in the Terai region of UP will take time. The state government should airlift oxygen cylinders to the airstrips and helipads in the area for quick supply.”

UP Congress Committee president and MLA from Tamukhiraj in Kushinagar Ajay Kumar Lallu said his party had been drawing the state government’s attention to the “oxygen crisis” following a surge in Covid-19 cases.

“The districts in east UP and hospitals located in the far-flung areas are the worst affected. The coronavirus infection has spread in the rural areas. The patients admitted in the community health centres require oxygen ,” he said.

For his part, Congress MLC Deepak Singh on Tuesday said he committed his legislators’ fund to Covid management, especially for oxygen and ventilators for Amethi district.

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) national secretary Anil Dubey said, “We do not have any legislators (MLA or MLC), but I wrote to the chief minister, demanding oxygen supply, especially allowing cylinders to the individuals and also removing the rider of CMO’s referral for admissions to Covid hospitals.”

Samajwadi Party MLC Udaiveer Singh said: “This government, its ministers, and district officials are not listening to anyone. They have become inaccessible. District officials have been busy with panchayat polls more than the Covid management. Leave alone the Opposition, this government is not listening to its own party MLAs. It has made things so centralised that now people like us cannot help people directly--be it with oxygen, ventilators, hospital beds, or Remdesivir. How can a legislator help a person with his Covid treatment, if he is not getting a bed? The issue is not funds but management. Last year, Rs 1500 crore of MLA funds accumulated for Covid was not utilised, oxygen plants were to be made but they were not installed. The CM and PM CARES funds were unutilised.”