Amid acute shortage of medical oxygen in hospitals, the Rajasthan government on Friday sought the allocation of 201 metric tonnes of oxygen from the Centre on an emergency basis. The State, which needs 466 MT oxygen for treatment of COVID-19 patients, has only 265 MT in its stock.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said here that there was a shortage of 201 MT oxygen in the State, which had been allocated just 1.60% of the oxygen, despite recording 5% of the total COVID-19 positive cases in the country. “Rajasthan will require a total of 550 MT oxygen within a week. We request the Centre to allocate 201 MT oxygen today as an emergency,” Mr. Gehlot tweeted.
The number of active cases in the State at present is about 1.70 lakh and 20,400 patients require oxygen support. Mr. Gehlot said though the Union government had taken control of oxygen and essential medicines for their better management, it should allow the States to help each other under its supervision.
“We wish to deal with the crisis arising out of the raging pandemic in collaboration with the Centre. We have been requesting the Centre to get the help even from the foreign countries and assist Rajasthan and other States,” Mr. Gehlot said.
The State government has also announced a special package with several incentives and facilities for setting up medical oxygen plants. Those setting up the projects will be required to invest ₹1 crore and generate oxygen by September 30 for getting advantage of the package.
Speedy approval
The oxygen projects will be exempted from regulatory approvals and inspections for three years under the Rajasthan Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Facilitation of Establishment and Operation) Act, 2019. The State government will also help them in getting necessary approvals from the Centre and give them power and water connections at the earliest.
