HC pulls up Uddhav government for failing to submit Remdesivir allocation data

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday expressed displeasure at the Maharashtra government's failure to provide proper information on district wise allocation of Remdesivir injections and the number of vials it had procured from the Centre and manufacturers.

A division bench of Justices Sunil Shukre and Avinash Gharote was informed by the state government that it had, as per earlier directions of the court, reviewed its requirement of Remdesivir injections and placed a request with the Union government to increase the allocation for ten days.

When the state argued that the Centre had not sent as many vials as per the state-wise chart it had prepared, the HC bench admonished the state for not pursuing the same with the Centre.

Assistant Solicitor General A U Aurangabadkar told the court that the state could place its order directly with the concerned manufacturer, to which the bench said the Central government's directive was specific and ought to be followed in letter and spirit by all states, including Maharashtra.

It also said the state government was not forthcoming with specific information sought by the court.

The court sought to know what efforts had been taken by the state nodal officer to ensure procurement as well as equal and uninterrupted supply of Remdesivir injections, and asked the state government to file an affidavit on this issue on the next date of hearing on April 29.

The court said the government should issue district wise allocation of the injections.

The bench was also informed about the state government planning to import Remdesivir from Bangladesh, Singapore, Hong Kong etc.

The bench asked Nagpur collector to immediately set up a control room of 30-40 officials in 8-hour shifts comprising experienced administrators, officials from FDA, doctors from government and private hospitals to oversee allocation of beds, oxygen cylinders as well as district and centralised distribution of Remdesivir.

The collector informed the court that Nagpur would be getting 110 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen from Bhilai steel plant from Wednesday.