At 1.17%, India, despite surging Covid cases, has the lowest fatality rate in the world, which is a commendable achievement. While India took only 95 days to vaccinate 130 million or 13 crore people, the US took 101 days and China 109 days. A biased, leftist international media, that is trying to demonise India’s Herculean efforts at reining in Covid, would do well to know that, while India has a population that is over four times bigger than the US, our total number of Covid mortalities are over three times lower than the US’. Despite having a population density of over 455 persons per square kilometre, versus the US at 36 persons per square kilometre, India, under the towering leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has done an outstanding job in carrying out the world›s biggest vaccination drive, with over 13.54 crore people already vaccinated. This piece aims at separating such facts from propaganda, as India fights back against a pandemic, the worst in 103 years.
In one of the highest yearly spends towards disaster mitigation, the Modi government has released more than Rs 31,500 crore of disaster funds to the states and Union Territories since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Up to 50% of this fund had been permitted to be used for Covid-19 containment measures, including the setting up of quarantine centres, buying of medical equipment, providing for ambulances and towards testing and tracing of cases. Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal got the highest share of the State Disaster Relief Management Fund (SDRMF), including a Rs 8,257 crore contribution made from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). While Madhya Pradesh received Rs 3,700 crore of disaster funds, Maharashtra received Rs 3,640 crore and Bengal Rs 3,260 crore. In a directive issued last week, the Modi government said, “In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases, by way of special one-time dispensation, it has decided to allow states to utilise up to 50% of their annual allocation of SDRF for containment measures.”
A lot of misinformation on the purported oxygen shortage has been doing the rounds. Interestingly, against the present demand from 20 states, of over 6,785 MT/day of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), the Modi government has, since 21 April 2021, allocated 6822 MT/day of LMO to these states. In the last few days, the supply of LMO has been increased by about 3,300 MT/day, with contributions from private and public steel plants, industries, oxygen manufacturers, as well as through the prohibition of supply of oxygen for non-essential industries.
Keeping in mind the sudden surge in demand for Remdesivir injections required for Covid-19 therapy, the manufacturing capacity of domestic Remdesivir manufacturers has been ramped up. All support is being extended to manufacturers by the Modi government in this endeavour. The production capacity is being ramped up from the current level of 38 lakh vials per month to 74 lakh vials per month and 20 additional manufacturing sites have been approved. The export of Remdesivir has also been prohibited from 11 April 2021 in order to shore up domestic supplies.
To further address reports of shortages in certain regions of the country and facilitate smooth inter-state supply of the drug, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in coordination with the Department of Pharmaceuticals, has made an interim allocation of Remdesivir for 19 states/UTs for the period up to 30 April 2021.
In the last 10 days, the Indian Railways has operated a total of 432 special train services from Maharashtra and 1166 special train services from Delhi. Presently, the Indian Railways is running a total of 1512 special train services per day for supplying essentials, including Covid-related medicines. The Indian Railways also successfully ran the first Roll On-Roll Off (Ro-Ro) Oxygen Express that reached Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) in Vizag, picking up LMO from Kalamboli Goods’ Shed in Maharashtra. The Centre has also sanctioned the installation of 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants in public health facilities across states. The plants will augment medical oxygen capacity by 154.19 metric tonnes, according to the health ministry. Out of the 162 PSA plants sanctioned by the Centre, 33 have already been installed. Additionally, the government has also roped in the Indian Air Force (IAF) to airlift oxygen cylinders, regulators and essential medicines to battle the pandemic. 23 mobile oxygen generation plants are being airlifted from Germany. These will be deployed in static hospitals and provide adequate oxygen to the needy. So, the problem is not an oxygen deficit per se! There was 50,000 tonnes of surplus oxygen last week, but paucity of cryogenic tankers and oxygen cylinders are the issue. Even here, yet again, some states failed miserably. The Modi government last year provided over 1.02 lakh oxygen cylinders to states that needed them, but bad planning, poor oxygen mapping and a lackadaisical attitude towards resolving logistical issues led to this purported oxygen scarcity at their respective ends.
The Modi government is doing all it can and all it should, but health is a state subject. Does Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have no responsibility towards the citizens of Maharashtra, which accounts for 34% of the total Covid deaths in India? Maharashtra, with an active caseload of about 7 lakh, is the single biggest super spreader. The moot question is, why did Maharashtra not ramp up testing to over 2 lakh per day, given that even way back in February 2021, the positivity rate in Maharashtra was already pretty high at 10.32%? There is enough statistical data to prove that there is no direct relationship between election rallies and rising Covid cases. In fact, be it Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab or Chhattisgarh, which together account for over 66% of India›s active caseload, there have been no big election rallies whatsoever and yet these four regions have contributed disproportionately to India›s Covid surge. Why?
The answer is criminal apathy and shoddy governance by the chief ministers of these aforementioned states. From a raging fire at Bhandara in January 2021 that killed 11 infants to the fire at Bhandup Covid Centre that killed 9 people in March 2021, the fire at the Nashik Covid facility three days back that led to 24 deaths to the raging fire that killed 14 people at a Covid hospital in Virar, the criminal incompetence of the MVA alliance, of which the Congress Party is an integral part, is embarrassing and shocking. Why has an inept Rahul Gandhi never ever questioned the criminal lethargy of Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Punjab? Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel refused to have Covaxin administered initially to the people in his state, despite the state having a positivity rate of 31%. Is that pardonable? Let the grim truth be told—while the BJP/NDA-governed states have a death rate of 88 per million, Opposition-ruled states have a Covid death rate of 141 per million.
Cumulatively, over 13.54 crore vaccine doses have been administered through 19.28 lakh sessions, as on 22 April 2021. These include 92.20 lakh healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 58.52 lakh HCWs who have taken both doses. From May 1, 2021, over 60% of India›s population will be eligible for vaccination. To those who say that the cost of vaccinating all Indians above 18 years will be massive, the truth is that it will amount to just 0.36% of the GDP. Together, the Centre and states will have to spend Rs 671.93 billion. A sum of Rs 50.90 billion has already been spent for procuring 214 million doses of the vaccines, hence, the remaining amount required to be spent on 1,554 million doses would be Rs 621.03 billion. The fiscal impact on the Union Budget would be 0.12% of GDP and on the state budgets it would be 0.24% of the GDP. As per the new guidelines under Phase 3 of the vaccination drive, state governments can procure vaccines directly from manufacturers. Indian manufacturers have been asked to sell 50% of the monthly doses to the Centre and the balance 50% can be sold to the states and in the open market. For people above 45 years of age, healthcare workers and frontline workers, vaccination will continue to remain free at government hospitals. The registration process for people above 18 years will begin from 28 April 2021.
The hypocrisy of the Opposition is evident from the fact that the likes of Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, who refused to implement Ayushman Bharat, are now asking the Centre to provide free vaccines for people above 18 years of age. Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Sikkim have announced free vaccines for all adults, which is good news.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has spent over Rs 600 crore on advertisements in the last year, must be asked: did the inept AAP government set up a single bed or even install a single hospital? The answer is a resounding no! Also, why did 270 of the 480 mohalla clinics shut down? The Aam Aadmi Party has always tom-tommed about the efficacy of its mohalla clinic model. If indeed these clinics were so efficient, why did these summarily shut down? Does Kejriwal have any answers? Amidst the raging crisis in Delhi, the Modi government has yet again stepped in and swiftly provided reprieve. Thanks to the Centre’s intervention, as on April 20, 2021, 2105 beds were added to Central government hospitals in Delhi. This capacity has been built at Safdarjung, RML, LHMC, AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jhajjar, ESIC Okhla and Jhilmil and the All India institute of Ayurveda, Sarita Vihar, which are available now for the care of Covid patients in Delhi. Among these 2105 additional beds, there are 1875 oxygen beds and 230 ICU beds. In addition, at the DRDO facility in Dhaula Kuan, 250 ICU beds were made operational on April 19, 2021, and another 250 ICU beds are being made operational. The Indian Railways has also committed to provide 50 coaches with 16 beds each at the Shakur Basti station, amounting to 800 beds, which can be used for isolation by the Delhi Government. Further, the Indian Railways will also provide 25 coaches with 16 beds each, amounting to 400 beds, at its Anand Vihar facility.
The Modi government, in a befitting emergency response, has also intervened to streamline oxygen availability to states. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers recently took to social media to send SOS communication to the Centre. It is worth asking, why did the Kejriwal government end up creating a situation where its only option was to send SOS calls to the Centre? Was it not the responsibility of the Kejriwal dispensation to secure medical oxygen supply beforehand, by entering into agreements with private players? How and why did the Kejriwal government choose to overlook signs that suggested that Delhi may face this kind of a crisis? Why does Delhi not have a single unit for oxygen production? All its supply comes from other states. The farmers› protest at the Singhu and Tikri borders is delaying the movement of trucks, which is subsequently delaying the movement and supply of medical oxygen. Why has the Opposition never called out the bluff of the “andolanjeevis”? Why has Captain Amarinder Singh›s shoddy handling of the farmers’ protests never been questioned by the usual suspects who write lengthy op-eds against the Modi government at the drop of a hat?
When one looks for reasons to explain the present medical oxygen crisis in Delhi, the shortcomings have remained unaddressed by the Kejriwal government for a long time now. The same AAP government which claims that it spearheaded a health revolution with mohalla clinics has not acted even at a basic level to secure Delhi from future health shocks. While AAP leaders have been tweeting feverishly, the Modi government has been working overtime to extend all possible help to the people of Delhi. The DRDO facility with 500 ICU beds, funded by the PM CARES Fund, the reactivation of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid facility at Chattarpur, providing medical manpower, increasing bed capacity in Central government hospitals from 1,090 to 3,800 beds, are all key steps taken by the Centre. With this, the total bed capacity has reached over 4,159, including over 730 ICU beds. Per day oxygen allocation to NCT of Delhi was increased from 378 MT to 480 MT, with plans to further raise it. The movement of allocated oxygen supplies is being monitored on a real-time basis. Issues arising from the stoppage of tankers are also being resolved immediately.
The leftist, morally corrupt, Lutyens’ cabal has been going hoarse saying the Modi government should have decentralised the vaccination drive from day one. Well, procuring medical oxygen and allocating it to hospitals was a power that was always vested with and continues to be under the ambit of state governments. Why then did states fail, despite the decentralisation, in this case? The issue therefore is not of decentralisation, but the fact that states need to take ownership too. The Modi government is doing more than its fair share but states cannot simply throw in the towel.
The Central Government-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has supplied around 35,000 tonnes of oxygen from its plants in Bokaro, Bhilai, Burnpur, Durgapur and Rourkela to support hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. Hence baseless allegations by the likes of Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee or Rahul Gandhi, that the Modi government is favouring BJP-governed states, is nothing but hyperbole. Even private steelmakers such as Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) are supplying between 100-200 MT of medical oxygen and ramping up production. Sadly enough, while the Central Government has always appreciated private enterprise, the Congress has never lost an opportunity to malign the private sector.
To cut to the chase, India›s mega vaccination drive has received a booster dose after Zydus Cadila›s antiviral drug, Virafin, with an efficacy rate of 91.15%, received emergency use approval from the Indian regulator, DCGI. Last week, Russia›s Sputnik V vaccine also received DCGI approval. On 23 April, 2021, showcasing its continued empathy, the Modi government announced free ration to be distributed to 81 crore people each month via the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojan (PMGKAY), for the months of May and June 2021. This, after having already run the biggest food security program in the world (PMGKAY) between March and November 2021, when every month, for nine months in a row, free food grains were given to a population more than twice the size of America’s population! Suffice to say that, if indeed effective leadership is about translating visions into reality, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been burning the midnight oil, is all set to win the war against Covid because of his well thought out and calibrated approach, that will surely be vindicated in due course.
The author is an economist, national spokesperson for the BJP and bestselling author of ‘Truth & Dare: The Modi Dynamic’. The views expressed are personal.