Assam Government will provide extra oxygen to Barak, illegal vaccine case will be investigated, assured Health Minister

The Assam government has plans to build special oxygen supplies for the three districts so that corona victims in the Barak Valley are not deprived of emergency medical services during difficult times. Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said this while visiting Silchar Civil Hospital on Monday evening. He said, “Silchar Medical College Hospital will work centrally for the treatment of the corona patients in the valley. At present, there are 100 ICU beds and if necessary, the number will be increased on the recommendation of doctors. Now that the number of patients is increasing, there is an adequate supply of oxygen. However, the government is considering keeping special stocks so that patients are not deprived if communication gets disrupted due to any natural disaster.”

Keshab Mahanta is visiting Barak Valley for the first time after taking charge as the health minister. On Monday, he first inquired and checked the government health infrastructure in Hailakandi and Karimganj and gave some necessary instructions. Despite the government making adequate plans for upgrade work, why has there been no infrastructural improvement yet? He questioned the officials regarding this matter as well. An adequate number of machines have been sent from the PMcares Fund to provide ICU services to the civil hospitals in the two districts but the service has not started yet. The health minister assured me that the work would start immediately.

He came to Silchar and went straight to the Satindra Mohan Dev Civil Hospital, accompanied by the Principal Secretary of Health Anurag Goel, DME Anup Kumar Barman, Director of Health Services Rathindra Bhuiyan, Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty and other government officials. At first, they stood outside the Covid ward and spoke to the patients inside. The patients shared their feelings with them, including District Magistrate Keerti Jalli, Superintendent of Civil Hospital Dr Jiten Singh and others. While there are no problems regarding medical services and hygiene, patients are having difficulty with the food though. The health minister has assured that their problems would soon be solved.

After that, the principal of the Silchar Medical College & Hospital Dr Babul Bezbarua held a meeting with every officer of the district health department. They were instructed to not give home isolation to anyone so easily. Home isolation will be provided only to those who have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate Covid patients at home and have enough space for the patient. In front of the media regarding this issue, he said, “Before giving home isolation to a person, the health department officials will check two aspects, whether the affected person is in a condition to receive treatment from home and whether there is a minimum infrastructure for his treatment at home. Only then will one will be allowed to stay at home. Absolute home isolation is not allowed in certain areas, including the tea garden areas. Home isolation will also not be provided in remote areas where medical infrastructure is weak. This is done because many are staying at home for treatment and their health is deteriorating there. When they finally come to the government hospital for treatment, they are not in a position to get saved.”

Corona patients are in need of much more oxygen this year. Regarding this, he said, “The Barak Valley, along with the rest of the state, has adequate oxygen supply. Silchar Medical College & Hospital already has three plants in operation. If necessary, the number will increase and there are plans to set up oxygen plants in Karimganj and Hailakandi as well. In addition, special stocks will be kept in case of natural disasters so that the supply of oxygen is not disrupted.”

The SM Dev Civil Hospital was recently accused of providing vaccines in secret rooms at a fixed rate. “The vaccine is being given completely free of cost, so there is no question of financial transactions. But since the allegations have been made, we will investigate. If evidence is found against anyone, adequate action will be taken,” the minister said.

He further said, “The way the situation is progressing right now, the government has decided to stop inter-district transport. The remaining work should be completed within the next two days, because once the transport is stopped, even if requested, permission will not be granted.”

On Tuesday morning, the Health Minister will visit the Silchar Medical College & Hospital, after which he’ll return to Guwahati.