Supreme Court Constitutes National Task Force To Review Oxygen Distribution Amid Covid Crisis

Besides the concerns related to oxygen supply, the Supreme Court constituted task force will also suggest measures to ensure rational and equitable availability of medicines needed to treat Covid-19.

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New Delhi: Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, in its order, has constituted a National Task Force (NTF) to assess, recommend the need, and distribution of medical oxygen for the entire country.

The 12-member National Task Force set up by the top court will assess availability and distribution of medical oxygen on scientific, rational, and equitable basis across the country.

A bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah said: "A consensus has emerged that there is a need to ensure that the allotments of medical oxygen to the states and UTs are made on a scientific, rational and equitable basis. At the same time, it must allow for flexibility to meet unforeseen demands due to emergencies which may arise within the allocated territories."

"It is necessary that an effective and transparent mechanism is set up within the Union Government for the purpose of allocating medical oxygen to all states and UTs for being used during the Covid-19 pandemic," it added.

The task force is to be led by Dr. Bhabatosh Biswas, the former Vice-Chancellor of the West Bengal University of Health Sciences.

Besides the concerns related to oxygen supply, the Supreme Court constituted task force will also suggest measures to ensure rational and equitable availability of medicines needed for Covid treatment. The members will also share inputs, based on their scientific and specialized knowledge for meeting the challenges induced by the Covid pandemic.

"The rationale for constituting a task force at a national level is to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic based on scientific and specialised domain knowledge. We expect that the leading experts in the country shall associate with the work of the task force both as members and resource persons," the top court noted in its order.

Here is the detailed list of members:

• Dr Bhabatosh Biswas, Former Vice Chancellor, West Bengal University of Health Sciences, Kolkata.
• Dr Devender Singh Rana, Chairperson, Board of Management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi.
• Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairperson and Executive Director, Narayana Healthcare, Bengaluru.
• Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
• Dr J.V. Peter, Director, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
• Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairperson and Managing Director, Medanta Hospital and Heart Institute, Gurugram.
• Dr Rahul Pandit, Director, Critical Care Medicine and ICU, Fortis Hospital, Mulund (Mumbai) and Kalyan (Maharashtra).
• Dr Saumitra Rawat, Chairman & Head, Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplant, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi.
• Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin, Senior Professor and Head of Department of Hepatology, Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS), Delhi.
• Dr Zarir F Udwadia, Consultant Chest Physician, Hinduja Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital and Parsee General Hospital, Mumbai.
• Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
• The Convenor of the National Task Force, who shall also be a member, will be the Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government. The Cabinet Secretary may nominate an officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary to depute for him, when necessary."

This comes while the Delhi government has once again raised alarm over the Oxygen supply. Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said: "We're getting help for the supply of oxygen from Central government, Delhi High Court and Supreme Court have also intervened in this regard. We need 700 MT oxygen to run hospitals in the state and if we want to increase the capacity of our hospitals we need 976 MT of oxygen".

He alleged that the quantity of Medical Oxygen supplied to Delhi has reduced once again. "On May 5, we received 730 MT oxygen for the first time but on May 6 we got 577 MT oxygen and 487 MT of oxygen yesterday. I urge the Central government to maintain at least 700 MT of oxygen supply to Delhi till the situation demands," he added.

India reported 4,01,078 new Covid-19 cases, 3,18,609 discharges, and 4,187 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry. The fatalities going over 4000 deaths makes another grim milestone of recording the highest ever Covid related deaths in a single day.

(With Inputs From Agencies)