Consider allotment of required oxygen, Remdesivir injections to Rajasthan: High Court to Centre

Jodhpur, May 08: The High Court here asked the Centre to consider allotting the required medical oxygen and Remdesivir injections to Rajasthan for the treatment of COVID patients as the state government submitted before it that the needful is not being done as demanded by them.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur said this on Friday while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) over the issue. The Rajasthan government in an affidavit said, "The requisitions, which were sent to the High Power Committee of the Government of India by the state, were not being fulfilled adequately."

While the state government said efforts are being made to start oxygen generation plants in hospitals attached with medical colleges, it claimed that the Centre allotted only 1,41,600 Remdesivir injections to them between April 21 and May 9, against the daily demand of 20,000 vials.

Assistant Solicitor General Mukesh Rajpurohit, representing the Government of India, submitted that a high powered committee has been constituted by the Centre to deal with the supply of oxygen and essential medicines after taking into consideration the number of patients in a state.

Following the submissions, the Division Bench asked the high powered committee to consider allotting required oxygen to the state and source it from Rajasthan or around to save the time of transportation. It asked the committee to consider enhancing the supply of Remdesivir injection and other life-saving drugs to meet the demand of the state.

Acknowledging efforts of doctors, paramedical staff and government functionaries, the court said, "Although best efforts are being made to utilise the available resources, we feel that the requisite efforts are not sufficient and further efforts need to be made."