New Delhi: The Centre has distributed more than 3.04 crore N95 masks and over 1.28 crore PPE kits to states-run institutions, free of cost since March 11, an official release here said. In addition, 22,533 ‘Make in India’ ventilators and more than 10.83 crore HCQ tablets have been distributed to them. The Centre is also ensuring installation and commissioning of ventilators.In the relentless work of state and UT governments for containment and management of Covid-19, the Union Government’s central role has been in strengthening health infrastructure to fight the pandemic and its effective management.
With the combined efforts of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Pharmaceuticals, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and others, the domestic industry has been encouraged and facilitated to manufacture and supply essential medical equipment like PPEs, N95 masks, and ventilators during this period. As a result, resolve for ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ has been strengthened and most of the supplies made by the Union Government are domestically manufactured.Along with augmenting Covid-19 facilities, the Centre has been providing medical supplies free of cost to the state governments to supplement their efforts. Most of the products supplied by the Union Government were not being manufactured in the country in the beginning. The rising global demand due to the pandemic resulted in their scarce availability in the foreign markets.