There was no committee set up to oversee the supply of medical oxygen during the coronavirus pandemic, the Centre has said, The Hindu rep...
There was no committee set up to oversee the supply of medical oxygen during the coronavirus pandemic, the Centre has said, The Hindu reported on Sunday. Last week, the Central Information Commission had directed the Modi government to share details about the panel in response to a Right to Information request.
During the devastating second wave of the pandemic in April, when India recorded a huge number of Covid-19 infections and was struggling with shortages of medical supplies, journalist Saurav Das had filed an RTI request seeking information about a nine-member Empowered Committee responsible for dealing with medical oxygen.
The committee was set up last year under the Ministry of Commerce’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal trade, according to an order issued on April 4, 2020. The objective of the committee, the order stated, was to ensure “adequate supply of medical oxygen” wherever required in India. The chairperson of the panel was Guruprasad Mohapatra, secretary of the DPIIT.
Saurav Das had sought details about the dates, agenda and minutes of the committee’s meetings as well as the presentations made before it.
The central public information officer responded to the journalist on June 11 but refused to divulge any information. He cited sections of the RTI Act that allow the government to withhold...
