Centre by no means requested Chhattisgarh for information on oxygen deaths throughout second wave: T S Singh Deo

Chhattisgarh Health Minister T S Singh Deo on Friday accused the Centre of deceptive the nation with its assertion that states had not reported any information on deaths triggered on account of lack of oxygen in the course of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the nation. He mentioned that the Central authorities had not demanded any figures from state governments relating to these deaths up to now.
Maintaining that Chhattisgarh was an oxygen-surplus state, the minister added that the state authorities is conducting a re-audit of deaths recorded in the course of the second wave to determine if any of the sufferers succumbed on account of a scarcity of medical oxygen.
On July 20, the Central authorities mentioned within the Rajya Sabha that no deaths on account of lack of oxygen had been particularly reported by states and UTs in the course of the second wave of Covid-19, triggering criticism from opposition events. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Singh Deo mentioned: “The government of India has been given constant data from the state government. They however never asked, not even as a separate column on the forms that the states had to fill, of deaths resulting due to Oxygen shortage. Then making a statement that the state governments didn’t provide them with enough data is willfully an attempt to cover up their mismanagement.”
“Chhattisgarh is an oxygen-surplus state, so we haven’t recorded any oxygen shortage related death. But instead of being stubborn, we are willing to listen to the people and other stakeholders. We have already been conducting an audit of Covid-19-related deaths in the state, to ensure that all possibilities are tracked and checked for,” mentioned the minister. He added, “We are expanding our public audit to get all information on any death in hospitals or outside due to a shortage of oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19 in the state.”
The minister requested NGOs, members of civil society and journalists of the state to tell the federal government if they’ve come throughout the loss of life of any coronavirus affected person on account of medical oxygen scarcity. “Transparency is a core of a democratically-elected government and we shall follow the Congress’s commitment towards transparency,” he mentioned.
The state has no document of deaths on account of lack of oxygen both in authorities or non-public hospitals, in line with the well being division. “Complaints were received sporadically, but they were unsubstantiated. We will audit deaths again to dispel all doubts,” Singh Deo added.
Singh Deo urged the Centre to conduct an analogous audit of deaths throughout the nation. “If the government at the Centre can accuse Chhattisgarh for vaccine wastage with no proof, they should also be able to deduce how many deaths had occurred by sending their teams across the country,” he mentioned.
Singh Deo identified that the oxygen manufacturing capability of the state was 388.87 metric tonnes, whereas the height consumption reported was 180 MT on April 26.
The second wave of coronavirus began within the state in mid-March. Since March 15 and until July 22, as many as 9,617 individuals have died as a result of viral an infection within the state, as per official figures.