Not Clear On What Basis Delhi Sought 700 MT Oxygen In Supreme Court; Exaggerated Claims & Wrong Formula Used : Interim Audit Report

The sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court for oxygen audit of Delhi has opined that "exaggerated claims and wrong formula" were used by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi(GNCTD) to project its requirements for Liquid Medical Oxygen during the second wave of the COVID pandemic."It is still not clear on what basis had an allocation of 700MT been sought by Govt of Delhi in the Supreme Court of India when collated data had so many gross errors and it took an oxygen audit to point out the same. It also appears that Govt of Delhi used a wrong formula and made exaggerated claims on 30th April. It was also evident that some hospitals could not differentiate between KL and MT and the same was not examined while projecting 700 MT", said the interim-report prepared by the sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court for the oxygen audit of Delhi.The sub-group consisted of AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria, Delhi Government Principal Home Secretary Bhupinder Bhalla, Max Healthcare Director Dr.Sandeep Budhiraja, Union Jal Shakti Ministry Joint Secretary Subodh Yadav and Sanjay Kumar Singh of the Petroleum and Oxygen Safety Organization (PESO).Delhi Home Secretary Bhupinder Bhalla and Max Healthcare director Dr. Sandeep Budhiraja did not attend the final meeting of the sub-group. The Delhi Home Secretary objected to the interim report, saying that the committee was functioning with a "pre-conceived and predetermined conclusion and narrative". Dr.Budhiraja said that the calculation did not take into account the oxygen cylinder refilling and non-COVID requirements of the hospitals.It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had directed that the daily oxygen allocation for Delhi should be 700 MT. The Delhi High Court had initiated contempt proceedings against the officers of the Central Government for the failure to supply 700 MT oxygen, following the deaths of patients in some Delhi Hospitals, reportedly due to lack of oxygen supply. Though the Supreme Court stayed the Delhi High Court's contempt notice, it asserted that the oxygen supply for Delhi must continue at 700 MT."The directions contained in the order of this Court dated 30 April 2021 leave no manner of doubt that the Union Government is under an obligation to ensure a daily supply of 700 MT to meet the existing requirements of the NCTD. This direction has been based on the assurance of the Union Government to the Court", the Supreme Court had said in its order passed on May 6. It was the same order which directed the constitution of a National Task Force and the oxygen audit of States/UTs.'We Want Union To Supply 700 MT Oxygen To Delhi On Daily Basis, We Mean Business' : Supreme Court Directs Centre In its April 30 order, the Supreme Court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud had recorded that the existing allocation of oxygen for GNCTD remained at 490 MT/day, while the projected demand had increased by 133% to 700 MT/day, and that therefore there was a need to remedy the same.The order had noted that the Centre itself has admitted in its affidavit filed in Supreme Court that the Delhi Government has revised its projected demand for oxygen by 133% from 490 MT per day to 700 MT per day.Sub-group questions Delhi's projectionsThe interim-report of the sub-group says that the oxygen requirement calculation sheet shared by the GNCTD has "lot of errors". "In the 4th meeting on 13th May, it was discussed that there is a gross discrepancy (about 4 times) in that the actual oxygen consumption claimed (1140MT) was about 4 times higher than the versus calculated consumption by formula for bed capacity (289MT)", the report reads. The figure of 1140 MT came from the responses given by 183 hospitals in the Delhi relating to oxygen consumption. Although the sub-group had send pro-forma to 260 hospitals, responses were received only from 183 hospitals.It may be noted that the Union Government's formula follows the assumption that 50 % of the non-ICU hospital beds use oxygen. On the other the hand, the GNCTD formula assumes that all-non ICU oxygenated beds use oxygen. In this context, it may be relevant to recall that the Supreme Court had called for a revision of this formula of forecasting oxygen requirement based on number of hospital beds, observing that there were critical COVID patients who have not secured hospital admissions.Centre's Formula To Allocate Oxygen To States Based On Hospital Beds Needs Rethink : Supreme Court The sub-group opined that the Delhi's oxygen forecast appeared to be exaggerated going by both the Central Government and GNCTD formula.Hospitals recorded negative consumptionThe interim report also said that certain hospitals projected extremely high demand but recorded negative consumption."It was noted that four hospitals in Delhi i.e. Singhal Hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, ESIC Model Hospital, and Liferay Hospital have claimed extremely high oxygen consumption with very few beds and the claims appeared ...

Not Clear On What Basis Delhi Sought 700 MT Oxygen In Supreme Court; Exaggerated Claims & Wrong Formula Used : Interim Audit Report

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