Opposition-ruled states claimed no death due to oxygen shortage: BJP
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoHFW) hit back at its rivals amid a row over the Modi government's reply in Parliament on the matter.
FollowThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday said the blame for not reporting deaths on account of oxygen shortage during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic lies with the state and Union territory governments since they did not report any such casualties to the Union government.
No deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by states or Union Territories during the second wave of Covid-19, the government of India said.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s (MoHFW) hit back at its rivals amid a row over the Modi government's reply in Parliament on the matter.
“The data that was presented in Parliament yesterday is not collated by the Centre but sent by states and Union territories. If the Opposition says the Centre has not put correct data, then they should ask their own state governments what has gone wrong,” BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra said.
The government had told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by states and UTs during the second Covid-19 wave, drawing sharp criticism from opposition leaders.
In a written reply to a question on whether a large number of Covid-19 patients died on roads and hospitals due to acute shortage of oxygen during the second wave, minister of state for health, Bharati Pawar told the Rajya Sabha, “Detailed guidelines for reporting of deaths have been issued by the Union health ministry to all states and UTs… Accordingly, all states and UTs report cases and deaths to the Union health ministry on a regular basis. However, no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states/UTs.”
Patra blamed the Congress and the Aam Admi Party (AAP) for not sharing the data from the state where they are in power.
He said Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had specifically mentioned that on the intervening night of April 23 and April 24, 21 people died because of oxygen shortage in Jaipur Golden Hospital.
The Maharashtra government also told Bombay High Court that no one died due to the oxygen shortage and Chhattisgarh Health Minister TS Singh Deo has also made similar claims, the BJP spokesperson said.
Gandhi should speak to the chief ministers in the states where his party is in power instead of “lying” on Twitter and spreading confusion, he said.
To a question about the BJP-run states, Patra said people might have suffered there too but they neither levelled allegations like the opposition-ruled states nor the issue was taken to High Courts there in this manner.
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