COVID Crisis- "Address Issue of Financial Assistance To Manipur": Manipur High Court To Centre;

Noting that there is no machinery as on date to monitor the treatment of patients inside a hospital, A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Kh. Nobin Singh directed the State Government to take necessary steps in that regard.

During the course of the previous hearing, the Manipur High Court had refused to issue directions for procurement/ supply of medical Oxygen in the State.

The Court had observed that it would be inappropriate to issue directions in that regard when the Supreme Court has already taken note of the matter and has constituted a National Task Force to formulate a methodology for scientific allocation of liquid medical oxygen to all the States and Union Territories.

Submissions made before the Court

The Advocate General for the State of Manipur informed the Court that the process of constituting a committee through the National Task Force, as directed by the Supreme Court, was yet to crystallize.

However, he asserted that the Government of Manipur was doing all that is within its power to cater to the demand for oxygen supplies owing to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The Supreme Court constituted a 12-member National Task Force to formulate a methodology for scientific allocation of liquid medical oxygen to all the States and Union Territories in order to deal with the dearth of oxygen supply amid the second Covid wave.

This Task Force will inter alia, make recommendations for augmenting available supplies of oxygen, based on present and projected demands likely during the pandemic.

For this purpose, it shall constitute sub-groups/committees for each State/ Union Territory for the purpose of conducting audits to ensure accountability for proper distribution of oxygen supplies made available to them.

Court's observations

The Court appreciated State Government's step of constituting a team to deal with the current demand and the available supply of oxygen for Covid patients and noted that the practice of bringing out 'Updates' in the newspapers would lend transparency to the entire process apart from keeping the public at large informed of the steps being taken by the Government.

Further, noting that since the State Oxygen Management Team constituted by the Government would have to determine the supplies of oxygen to be made, pending constitution of a State-level committee through the National Task Force, the Court remarked,

"It would be for each hospital concerned, including the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, to place its current demand before the said Team, basing on the number of patients admitted in that hospital who need oxygen. The Team shall thereupon allocate the oxygen available to all the hospitals equitably."

Lastly, the Union of India was asked to address the various aspects raised by the respondents in their replies, including adequate financial assistance to the State of Manipur to meet the crisis occasioned by the second wave of this pandemic and the rising number of serious cases, requiring enhanced oxygen supplies.

With this, the matter was posted for further hearing to May 27.

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