Supreme Court forms National Task Force to streamline oxygen allocation
The Supreme Court on Saturday set up a 12-member National Task Force (NTF) to facilitate public health response to Covid-19, including streamlining of oxygen distribution in the country, based on scientific and specialized domain knowledge.
| 9 May 2021 2:44 AM GMT
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Saturday set up a 12-member National Task Force (NTF) to facilitate public health response to Covid-19, including streamlining of oxygen distribution in the country, based on scientific and specialized domain knowledge.
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.
The Supreme Court has set up a 12-member national task force of doctors and bureaucrats to primarily formulate a methodology for the scientific allocation of oxygen to mitigate the extreme shortage in many parts of the country because of the sharp rise in Covid cases.
A bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, which had passed the order on May 6, formally uploaded the written order on Saturday night.
The members are Dr Bhabatosh Biswas, former vice-chancellor of the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, Calcutta; Dr Devender Singh Rana, chairperson of the board of management of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi; Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, chairperson and executive director of Narayana Healthcare, Bangalore; Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore; Dr J.V. Peter, director of Christian Medical College, Vellore; Dr Naresh Trehan, chairperson and managing director of Medanta Hospital and Heart Institute, Gurgaon; Dr Rahul Pandit, director of critical ca
A division bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah said the task force will “enable the decision makers to have inputs which go beyond finding ad-hoc solutions to the present problems”. It further observed that “the likely future course of the pandemic must be taken into contemplation at the present time,” keeping in view an impending third Covid-19 wave.
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COVID hits rural India
The surge of COVID-19 cases in rural India is a matter of grave concern. The reason is the reverse migration of workers from the metro cities of the country to the villages and not adhering to the COVID safeguards. The basic healthcare facilities are available in the villages of the country and this medical infrastructure is not capable of dealing with COVID patients. In such a situation, the patients have to move to the cities for treatment. States need to take effective steps to curb the cases in rural areas. Strict lockdowns in villages and boosting of healthcare facilities should be considered.
Representative Image ANI | Updated: May 09, 2021 22:45 IST
New Delhi [India], May 9 (ANI): Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, the first meeting of the 12-member National Task Force set up by the Supreme Court to ensure that medical oxygen is delivered throughout the country in a streamlined manner through an effective and transparent mechanism was held on Sunday, sources said. All the National Task Force members commended the significant work done by Ministries and Departments of Government of India in augmenting the oxygen production capacities as well as in ensuring its efficient distribution, sources told ANI.
The task force members also provided specific suggestions on increasing oxygen production and availability, managing the demand side of medical oxygen, and parameters on which individual health facilities could ensure economy in the use of medical oxygen, sources said.