Nadda, Jai Ram, Anurag lay foundation stones of oxygen plants in 2 medical colleges

BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, Himachal chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and Union minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Singh Thakur on Monday virtually laid foundation stones of 140 LPM pressure swing adsorption oxygen plant each at Dr Radhakrishanan Government Medical College, Hamirpur and CHC Ghumarwin in Bilaspur.

Each plant will provide uninterrupted oxygen supply to 30 beds each.

Nadda said, “When most national political parties have gone under virtual quarantine, BJP, through its ‘Sewa Hi Sangathan’ has come forward to help people in state in fighting the pandemic and mitigating the sufferings of a common man.”

He said the Union government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, provided free ration to 80 crore people during the first and second wave of the pandemic.

Nadda said there was only one virology lab to test Covid last year and the number has now gone up to 2,500. He appreciated Anurag for helping the state fight the pandemic.

In his address, Jai Ram said the state had only around 200 active cases of Covid as on February 23 which shot up to over 40,000 during the second wave. The recovery rate in state has reached 89% in the last few days.

He said there was no testing lab when the first cases were reported last year and now there are 35 labs.

The number of dedicated Covid treatment facilities has been increased to 57 from 11 last year while the number of beds has been increased from 440 to over 3,900 now.

Anurag said it is due to the initiative of the national BJP president that each party functionary contributed generously towards helping Covid patients and their families.

Thakur said an oxygen bank will be set up in Himachal to provide uninterrupted oxygen supply to 700 beds. He said Nadda will flag off the first consignment of 108 oxygen concentrators and 160 oxygen cylinders for this oxygen bank soon.