Raise allocation of ventilators to northeast, Gaurav Gogoi urges Harsh Vardhan

GUWAHATI: Congress's Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi has written to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan for raising the allocation of ventilators to the northeastern states, citing "discernible inequity" in allocation of ventilators while alleging "slanted treatment" to the region by the central government.
Referring to an RTI reply of May 21 which showed that states like Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram were allocated fewer ventilators than states with a lower number of active Covid cases, Gogoi said these states were to be provided adequate help to be able to cope with the pandemic.
"As India tides through the second wave of Covid-19, it is imperative that the health infrastructure is constantly strengthened. It is crucial that adequate support is provided to states, especially in the northeast, that are witnessing higher number of active cases. In a reply to my RTI, received state-wise data on allocation, delivery and installation of ventilators (as on June 22, 2021). On putting this data in perspective, comparing it with state-wise data of active cases (as on June 23, 2021), slanted treatment of states is observed," Gogoi, the Congress's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, said in the letter.
He added, "There is discernible inequity in allocation of ventilators to states in the northeast, which needs to be remedied urgently. Hence, I request you to raise the allocation of ventilators to 5,000 for the state of Assam and to 500 ventilators each for the states of Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland."
Gogoi said Assam recorded 32,975 active cases, amounting to approximately 5% of total active cases. The state was allocated 1000 ventilators. However, the Uttar Pradesh recorded a total of 3,910 active cases (0.61% of the total active cases) and saw an allocation of 6,316 ventilators, the highest in the country.
The Congress leader added Manipur (9,214), Meghalaya (4,273) and Mizoram (4,424) recorded a higher number of active cases, as compared to Bihar (2,811) and Jharkhand (1,417).
"However, allocation of ventilators is inversely proportional to the number of active cases in these states. While Bihar and Jharkhand saw an allocation of 500 and 1,960 ventilators respectively, Manipur (447), Meghalaya (86) and Mizoram (115) have been allocated a disproportionately lower number of ventilators," Gogoi said.
The MP also noted the "gaping difference" between delivered and installed ventilators in several states.