Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that the state government will conduct an audit of the life-saving gas, oxygen, in collaboration with various institutes.

“There is no shortage of oxygen in any Covid hospital, be it private or government. The problem is black marketing and hoarding, which will be tackled with a heavy hand. We are going to conduct an oxygen audit in collaboration with IIT Kanpur, IIM Lucknow and IIT BHU for proper monitoring of medical oxygen. The system of live tracking of oxygen demand, supply and distribution will be implemented,” the chief minister said in a virtual meeting with editors of various newspapers on Saturday evening.

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The chief minister has also launched a digital platform for monitoring oxygen supply.

Asserting that there is no shortage of oxygen in any private or public Covid hospital in Uttar Pradesh, he urged people not to let their guard down against Corona virus.

Yogi Adityanath also said that oxygen is not in short supply, provided only the needy use it.

“Every infected patient does not need oxygen, cooperation is expected from the media in increasing awareness about this,” he said.

He acknowledged that there were some initial problems in increasing the number of hospital beds in the state, but they have been quickly overcome.

Yogi Adityanath said, “It would be a huge mistake to take Corona as normal viral fever. I am also in its grip. I have been following all Covid protocols since April 13 while in isolation.”

The number of infections in this Covid wave is about 30 times more than the last time, he added, but also claimed that the state government’s preparation is better than before.

“We have made arrangements for oxygen plants in government institutions. There was a lack of this system in private institutions. Work is on to set up 31 new oxygen plants including 18 plants based on DRDO’s latest technology,” he said.

The chief minister also assured that there is no shortage of drugs like Remdesivir in Uttar Pradesh.

“When the demand increased, a state aircraft was sent to Ahmedabad and the drug was procured directly from the pharma company. Again, even this medicine is not required by all patients,” he said.

The chief minister said that Uttar Pradesh is the first state to go for ‘free vaccination for all’.

Nearly 8,000 centres have been set up where Covid vaccines will be administered free of cost to all people above the age of 18 from May 1, he said.

Reacting to the move on oxygen audit, a spokesperson for Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) said, “We are more than happy to assist the UP government in any way we can in these times of crisis. A team will be formed and assigned this task once an official communication in this regard is received by us.”

The Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIM-L) also assured full cooperation in the oxygen audit.

IIT-BHU director Prof P.K. Jain said, “A team of experts will be constituted for the oxygen audit as soon as we receive any communication from the government in this regard.”