National: The States and Union Territories are working relentlessly for containment and management of COVID-19. The Union Government’s central role has been in strengthening health infrastructure to fight the pandemic and its effective management.
The Union Government is enlarging its COVID-19 facilities. The Government is also providing medical supplies. They are supplying the medical equipment free of cost to the State and UT governments to supplement their efforts. Most of the products supplied by the Government of India were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets.
With the combined efforts of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and others, the domestic industry has been encouraged. They facilitated in manufacturing and supply of essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks, ventilators, etc., during this period. As a result, resolve for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ has been strengthened. Now, most of the supplies are made by the Union Government are domestically manufactured.
Since 11th March 2020, the Union Government has distributed more than 3.04 Crore N95 masks to the States and UTs. The Government also distributed more than 1.28 Crore PPE kits to States, UTs, and Central Institutions. All these types of equipment are supplied free of cost. Also, more than 10.83 Crore HCQ tablets have been distributed to them.
In addition, 22533 ‘Make in India’ ventilators have been produced. These equipment are distributed to various States, UTs, and Central Institutions. The Centre is also ensuring its installation and commissioning.