Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday targeted the Centre over the supply of defective ventilators under the PMCARES fund to Maharashtra and other states.

At the outset, Pawar clarified that he did not want to politicise the issue but the Centre should have been more careful while supplying ventilators to states during the ongoing pandemic. The ventilator manufacturers should have shown some humanity, he said.

"I don't want to politicize this during the coronavirus pandemic but even Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has lodged a complaint with the Centre in this regard," said Pawar.

Pawar’s statement came a day after the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday lashed out at the Centre for stating that doctors and paramedics are not properly trained to handle ventilators. The bench stated that the Union Health Ministry was more concerned about defending the manufacturer of the defective ventilators and not the lives of patients.

Pawar’s move to target the Centre is also important as the Congress party had demanded a joint probe into the defective supply of ventilators under PMCARES fund in Aurangabad.

Pawar, who was on a visit to review the Covid-19 situation in Satara district, noticed that the ventilators received from the Centre were not functioning.

“Many ventilator devices have become available from the PMCARES Fund. However, in many places, these ventilators are not functioning. The ventilators in Pune were not working. After discussing with the Municipal Commissioner, the technicians were called and after repairs, those ventilators have been put into use, ‘’ he said.

Pawar said the ventilator manufacturing companies should have some social commitment while supplying their product.

Meanwhile, Pawar said the state government has stepped up measures to combat mucormycosis or black fungus disease.

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