Welcome to The Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. To get it in your inbox every week,...
Welcome to The Political Fix by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, a newsletter on Indian politics and policy. To get it in your inbox every week, sign up here.
India’s second Covid-19 wave is a huge story. Help our small team cover the big issues. Contribute to the Scroll Reporting Fund or subscribe to Scroll+.
The Big Story: Phone-a-friend
The first time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seemed to take public notice of the dramatic oxygen shortage affecting cities like Delhi that had been hit hard by the Covid-19 second wave was on April 16, when he held a “comprehensive review” of supply and logistics.
On April 23, he had discussions with oxygen manufacturers. On April 27, Modi held a “high-level meeting” and was briefed by an “Empowered Group” of bureaucrats working on oxygen supply. That day, an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court by the Centre claimed that Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were providing “active and constant supervision” and “direct involvement” in augumenting the oxygen supply and managing distribution. On May 2, the prime minister chaired another meeting to “review usage of gaseous oxygen”.
And yet despite all of that direct involvement from Modi and Shah, on May 8, the Supreme Court decided that the Centre alone could not be trusted to handle India’s oxygen needs.
The court ordered the establishment of a 12-member National Task...Read more
