Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis were engaged in a verbal duel over the central government’s allocation of oxygen and Remdesivir to Maharashtra.
Fadnavis thanked the central government for allocating the state 1,785 MT of oxygen and 4,35,000 Remdesivir vials from April 21 to April 30 and said that both are higher than other states. “Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for such a strong support to the citizens of Maharashtra. Maharashtra has been allotted 1785 MT oxygen supply, which is more than double than any of the major states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh,” said Fadnavis in a tweet.
On the allocation of Remdesivir vials, Fadnavis hailed the central government’s move. In another tweet, he said, “As promised by the Government of India, Maharashtra received the highest share compared to other states! In the increased production of 5 lakh Remdesivir, Maharashtra receives the highest allotment of 1,65,000 around 34%. Thus, total 4,35,000 Remdesivir out of 16 lakh and this for just 10 days.’’
NCP spokesman and Minister of Minority Affairs Nawab Malik too thanked the central government for its decisions. However, he said that it should provide 50,000 vials of Remdesivir daily instead of the 26,000 vials per day allocated recently. “NCP has already brought to the notice that the allocation of 26,000 vials of Remdesivir per day is too inadequate to meet the increasing demand in the midst of the galloping COVID-19 cases in the state,” he noted. Malik admitted that, with the increased allocation, the state would not get 40,000 vials of Remdesivir per day, but said there would still be a shortage of 10,000 vials that needs to be met on priority.
Earlier, Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope, on April 23, had said that the state government’s daily requirement is 50,000 Remdesivir injections, but the central government’s allocation for the next 10 days is just 26,000 injections per day. “I appeal to the central government to allot more injections to Maharashtra, as the situation here is grave. I will be writing to the Union Health Ministry in this regard,” he added.
