India did remarkably well in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic last year, due to the sole fact that the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken upon itself the task of ramping up medical infrastructure, enforcing a lockdown, funding vaccine research among other day-to-day decisions crucial in keeping the spread of the virus in check. Then, state governments demanded that in the spirit of federalism, they have a greater say in how the crisis is to be addressed. Now, India is faced with an unprecedented surge in cases – and states have nobody but themselves to blame.
In January this year, the Modi government allocated no less than Rs 201.58 crore for installing 162 dedicated PSA medical oxygen generation plants in public health facilities. The cost of the same was to be borne by the PM-CARES fund. The plan encompassed having 162 PSA oxygen plants distributed across 32 states. On April 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that another 100 oxygen plants would be commissioned, using funds from PM-CARES. Interestingly, PM Modi had directed states to ramp up their oxygen production capacities in January itself – much before the current wave was even anticipated on a scale that it is ravaging the country with.
But states screwed up big time. Out of the 162 plants which were sanctioned, and whose costs were to be borne by the Centre, states – especially those ruled by opposition parties, for reasons best known to them, did nothing. This has led to an oxygen supply crisis across the country, and people are dying in the absence of adequate oxygen being supplied to them at the required pressure. While the Centre had sanctioned 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen generation plants, only 33 were built by states across the country as of April 18.
Dear Sri @ArvindKejriwal – Assam has installed 8 Oxygen plants (5.25 MT /day) after #Covid crisis hit us; 5 in process. PM Sri @narendramodi gave Delhi funds for 8 plants through #PMCARES in Dec 2020. Why blame Modi, when your govt has failed and could instal just one out of 8!
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) April 24, 2021
Out of these 33, BJP/NDA ruled states installed most of the plants – five in Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three each in Chandigarh, Gujarat and Uttarakhand and two each in Bihar, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Of course, these figures are not deserving of much appreciation, but these states at least did not sit idle for the past four months thinking the pandemic was done and dusted with. Assam has been the best performer so far, with eight oxygen plants installed, and five in the process of completion. The most shameful performance has come from states like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab among others, where only one PSA plant was installed until April 18. MVA-ruled Maharashtra fell short of seven plants to achieve its target of installing eight PSA oxygen generation plants.
Despite the Centre funding the installation of crucial oxygen plants across states, the state governments chose to willingly fall prey to their lackadaisical attitude and lethargy, the cost of which is now being borne by ordinary citizens gasping for oxygen.