Fact Vs Fiction

In a surprising U-turn, many states have flatly denied deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of Covid-19. This is despite courts pulling them up for their lackadaisical attitude towards the patients

- Shivam Sharma

ON August 25, Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had rejected the need for setting up a committee to probe oxygen deficiency deaths in the national capital as a task force has already been set up by the Supreme Court in this regard. Sisodia alleged that the centre was running away from the investigation because if the deaths were probed, then the public would clearly see the negligence and fraud of the centre.

Mandaviya, said the Delhi government, had revealed that the task force was set up on May 6 and had 12 terms of reference, out of which five were related to oxygen supply. Sisodia had written to Mandaviya earlier this month, asking that permission to form the committee be granted.

The health ministry told Parliament in July that none of the states had reported any deaths due to lack of oxygen, triggering criticism from Opposition leaders and prompting a rebuttal by the BJP.

But many states too took the same stand as the centre. On August 23, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the state assembly that his government would set up a committee to probe possible negligence by hospitals in treating Covid-19 patients. But he said no death due to oxygen shortage had been recorded in the state during the second wave of Covid-19.