TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ The Supreme Court-appointed National Task Force (NTF) of top medical experts, set up to formulate a methodology for allocation of oxygen to states and union territories, has recommended that the country should have strategic reserves of the gas for 2-3 weeks of consumption on the lines of the arrangements made for petroleum products. The 12-member NTF also said that all hospitals should have a buffer capacity for emergencies and they should set-up oxygen monitoring committees of senior staff.
The top court had set up the NTF on May 6 to formulate a methodology for allocation of oxygen for saving lives of COVID-19 patients and to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic. “We should have strategic reserves of oxygen for the country to cover 2-3 weeks’ consumption, similar to the arrangement made for petroleum products. Similarly, all hospitals should have a buffer capacity for Emergencies, the NTF said.
Dealing with augmenting the supplies of liquid medical oxygen or LMO, based on present and projected demands during the pandemic, the panel said that about 20 per cent buffer capacity of the states’ requirement should be created for allocation over and above baseline demand for allocation to states with rising cases of COVID-19. Efforts are to be made to further scale up LMO production in preparation of the next pandemic. There is an urgent need to increase production of LMO from about 5 per cent – 8 per cent of gaseous industrial oxygen. Government should support and subsidize concerned industries.
