CM Urges Congress MPs to Pressurise Centre Over Additional Covid-19 Supplies to Punjab

Accusing the Centre of showing “step-motherly treatment” during allotment of required Covid-19 supplies to Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged all Congress MPs from the state to pressurise the central government to augment supplies of oxygen, tankers, vaccines and other vital medicines amid the coronavirus crisis.

The Chief Minister also claimed that BJP-ruled Haryana has received more quota for oxygen and additional tankers than Punjab.

He appealed the Congress MPs to put pressure on the Centre to increase Punjab’s quota of oxygen and dispatch more tankers on priority.

The 195 MT quota allocated was inadequate for the state to meet its present needs, and even that could not be completely lifted due to shortage of tankers, he noted, adding that the state was currently facing a backlog of 120 MT from nearby sources (Dehradun, Panipat, Roorkee).

Besides this, the Chief Minister also said that the state is facing issues with installing oxygen ventilators which they received from the central government, citing non-availability of BEL engineer for the work.

On the vaccination front, the MPs expressed concern over the low supplies and repeated delays from the Centre. Captain Amarinder said Punjab government was in continuous discussions with the central government and the Serum Institute of India (SII) to expedite the availability of vaccine doses.

Punjab on Thursday registered 8,874 new Covid-19 cases, 154 deaths and 5,126 discharged in the last 24 hours. The case tally has jumped to 4,16,350 and active cases are at 66,568.

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