Gehlot seeks Centre's help to manage oxygen crisis in Raj

ajasthan, April 30 (IANS) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday appealed to the Central government to extend its help to the state, which is facing shortage of oxygen, Remdesivir and other life saving resources due to the huge surge in active Covid caseload in the state.

In a series of tweets, Gehlot said, "We are trying to make efforts so that the Centre and the state governments can work together to fight this pandemic. The oxygen and medicine crisis is extremely distressing. We are repeatedly requesting the Central government to help Rajasthan and other states by taking help from other states and foreign nations."

"There are about 1.70 lakh active cases in Rajasthan. As per the standard, about 12 per cent of the patients require oxygen. That is about 20,400 patients in Rajasthan today need oxygen and on the basis of these active cases, Rajasthan requires 466 MT oxygen. But at present only 265 MT oxygen is available. So there is a shortage of around 201 MT," he said.

He further said that the infected cases in the state constitute 5 per cent of the total cases in the country, but oxygen allocation to the state is only 1.6 per cent. Rajasthan will require a total of 550 MT oxygen within a week. Therefore, the Central government is requested to allocate 201 MT oxygen to the state as an emergency measure, the Chief Minister said.

"The Central government has taken control of oxygen and medicine supply for better management. But if the states want to help each other, it should be allowed under the supervision of the government of India. We hence request the Centre to help Rajasthan as the state needs the Central assistance," he added.

Gehlot had also spoken to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Principal Secretary to PM, P.K. Mishra, on Thursday and apprised them about the Covid situation in Rajasthan.