Ventilators bought under PM CARES fund turn scraps, many lie unused in states

Several ventilators purchased under the PM CARES Fund are either lying unused or dumped in scrap when many lives are being lost due to unavailability of ventilators. According to government statistics, on average, 3800 to 4000 people are dying daily across the country due to Covid-19.

Hyderabad (Telangana): The second wave of Covid-19 has left many gasping for breath. The shortage of oxygen and drugs has made people’s fight against the coronavirus quite difficult. Many people are struggling to survive due to lack of oxygen while many are on the verge of dying as they do not have access to relevant medicines, notwithstanding all hype and claims from the Central and the state governments. No doubt the system is equally responsible for the havoc caused by the second wave of coronavirus. The system itself seems to be on a ventilator. As a result, a very genuine question emerges as to how we will defeat the coronavirus.

It is worth mentioning that ventilators were given to the states from PM Cares Funds, but in many states, the system itself is on ventilator. The condition of arrangements in hospitals is so abysmal that the ventilators given from the PM CARES Fund are either dumped or there is no technician to operate these ventilators.

Well, this is the situation when according to the government statistics, on average, 3800 to 4000 people are dying every day across the country due to Covid-19. Family members crying in hospitals are pleading with the administration to make ventilators available for their patients. Many lives have been lost due to unavailability of ventilators. Seeing the prevalent situation in the hospitals across states, you will get the shock of your life and can easily make out if the country is in a position to deal with pandemic or not.

Ventilators bought under PM CARES fund turn scraps, many lie unused in states

BIHAR

As soon as we talk about Bihar, the word system disappears. Nitish Kumar, who relishes in the praise heaped upon him for the façade of good governance he has created in Bihar, is well aware of the arrangements in the state and the kind of treatment people are getting. The state received 30 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund last year, but not a single one was used. What is the reason? There is a shortage of technicians in the state. Now, when there are no technicians, it will be unfair to ask questions about the fixing of machines, lack of software, hardware, as these life-saving machines are currently in packed state.

The pathetic situation in Bihar can be gauged from the fact that as many as 207 ventilators in the entire state are lying idle due to lack of technicians. It does or does not matter to anyone whether these machines are used or not. Six ventilators are lying idle in each of 31 districts of the state and that too during the pandemic when the patients reach hospitals with hope for survival but there is no ventilator for them. Last year, despite the process to hire more than 1700 lab technicians were conducted, the results have not yet been declared.

PUNJAB

Punjab received 809 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund, out of which only 558 ventilators could be installed while 251 are still lying unused in government hospitals. According to the government, only one engineer has been deployed in Punjab to install ventilators due to which these machines are unable to be used by patients.

On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kultar Singh in a tweet has targeted the Punjab government for not being able to use all ventilators. According to Kultar Singh, about 70 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund are lying dumped at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot. When ETV Bharat spoke to the Vice-Chancellor of the university, he said that the medical college had received 82 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund, out of which 62 ventilators have been dysfunctional since the beginning. The question is if the ventilators were not in a good condition, why did not the government or the medical college administration take care of them for so many days. The university administration is citing many reasons including the shortage of technicians and the poor quality of the ventilators. In the time of corona when the patients are in need of critical support like ventilators, absurd arguments are being given by the authorities to justify their inefficiency in managing the situation.

KARNATAKA

Karnataka received 3025 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund out of which only 1,859 ventilators are being used while the remaining 1,166 ventilators are lying idle. This is the state of affairs in Karnataka where the cases of corona infection are increasing continuously. In the second wave of corona infection in which patients are dying for want of critical support, about 40 percent of the ventilators given from the PM CARES Fund in Karnataka are gathering dust, which is being attributed to certain technical reasons.

RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan received 1900 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund. According to the information of the Health Department, all ventilator checks have been done. 90 percent of these ventilators are working, while 10 percent are having some problems related to software, servicing or installation. In Rajasthan as well, many ventilators are not being used for want of technicians. In this second wave of corona infection, it is also a challenge for the department to manage engineers to make these ventilators work.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Himachal Pradesh received 500 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund. According to the Health Department, till May 12, only 48 of these ventilators are being used, while the use of 452 ventilators was not required. According to Dr Ramesh, Deputy Director of Health Department, Himachal Pradesh has a very less number of patients who need ventilator support. So, only 48 ventilators are being used. However, all ventilators are fine and in working condition.

KERALA

Kerala received 480 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund. Only 36 of these ventilators are not being used to technical glitches. According to the Health Department, these technical issues will be resolved soon.

UTTARAKHAND

Uttarakhand received 700 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund, out of which 670 ventilators have been installed and are being used. The remaining 30 ventilators have not been installed due to a lack of engineers. There is not a single engineer in the state to install them. Director-General of Health Trupti Bahuguna said that no ventilator is defective. Engineers are being called from Mumbai or other states to install ventilators, but it isn't that easy to rope in engineers from other places to install ventilators during this pandemic.

CHHATTISGARH

Chhattisgarh received 230 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund. According to the government, 70 ventilators had technical faults, out of which 60 were used after fixing their problems. But still, 10 ventilators are not being used due to technical fault.

DELHI

The capital of the country, Delhi is facing the brunt of Coronavirus infections. In the second wave of Covid in Delhi, the condition of many patients became critical and most of the patients admitted to hospitals were in need of ICU or ventilator. Delhi received 990 ventilators from the PM CARES Fund. All these are being used in Delhi hospitals. According to the hospitals, there are no issues with the ventilators. There are currently around 1200 ventilators in Delhi government hospitals.

Less or more, the disorder is prevalent in almost all states. The ventilators are getting junked but there is no one to repair them. The question is -- if a single ventilator is defective, then why does the system not come forward to fix it. If one machine is fine, many patients could have been saved. If the need for a ventilator is less in a state then why can't these machines be delivered to those patients who are critical in other states? Actually, there is no system in place in the country. Overall things are in a bad state in most of the states. What should the poor public do if the system is on the ventilator itself – is a million-dollar question.