Recent media reports have alleged that the “Centre kept 13,000 unused Ventilators During COVID Second Wave Crisis”. The report states that the Government had an inventory of 13,000 ventilators and that these were not delivered to the States.
It is clarified that the media report is less than adequately informed and is without any basis. There are no ventilators which have been kept in the inventory by the Central Government and not given to States that needed them. Every lot of ventilators which is ready for dispatch is getting dispatched to the States/ UTs promptly. Therefore, the observations and interpretations drawn in the article are not based on the facts.
Government placed order for 58,850 ventilators at the beginning of the pandemic itself. The orders were placed between 27th March and 17th April 2020. These were all Make-In-India ventilators considering the fact that there was a minimum possibility of sourcing them from abroad.
Based on the recommendations of the Empowered Group-III meant for ensuring adequate supply of essential medical devices, these procurement orders were placed by the Central Government.
The demand from the States for ventilators received till September 2020 was addressed through supplies. Thereafter negligible additional requirement was projected by the States. After November till March 2021, additional supply of ventilator was only 996 since the additional demand was this much only.
A large number of ventilators remained un-installed in the States and even lying in their warehouses. Since there was no demand from the States, no supply schedule was given to the manufacturers by the Government. The interpretation drawn in the article that the Central Government built up the inventory and did not supply 13000 ventilator is factually incorrect.
