Former chief minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan has held the central government responsible for the oxygen crisis in the country. He said on Wednesday that the Centre miserably failed to act in time to ensure adequate supply of oxygen.

“On October 20, 2020, the Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, had said there was no shortage of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in the country and outlined various steps to enhance LMO supply. He said the government was proactively planning to install PSA oxygen generating plants in 390 hospitals across the country and that the government had initiated import of one lakh metric tonnes of LMO to address anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases.”