Karnataka asks Centre for 1,500 tonnes of oxygen, one lakh vials of Remdesivir
Bengaluru: Karnataka has asked the Centre to supply 1,500 metric tonnes of oxygen and one lakh vials of Remdesivir in view of the growing COVID cases in the state.
"We have estimated that in the next one month, we may require 1,500 metric tonnes of oxygen. In this regard, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa has written to Union Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal," state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar told reporters here on Thursday.
He said he too has written to the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan for supply of oxygen.
Sudhakar said the state government had a meeting with the major oxygen generators in the state.
Of them JSW Steel is the largest one.
"We had a meeting with Sajjan Jindal and he has assured us to supply as much oxygen required in the state," Sudhakar said.
The Minister said after the meeting JSW steel supplied 40 metric tonnes in the last two days required for Bengaluru. Besides this, the State has demanded additional supply of Remdesivir injections, which is crucial for COVID treatment.
According to him, the state has ordered 70,000 vials of Remdesivir injection, of which 20,000 had arrived while the remaining would be supplied in the coming days.
"We have already ordered 70,000 vials of Remdesivir.
This besides we have put forth the demand for one lakh Remdesivir vials for which we have written to the Centre," he added.
To a question as to why the state did not stock enough oxygen beforehand, the Minister said when the cases had reduced, there was no such demand and hence there was no point in storing it.
Now that the cases have gone up the meetings took place to meet the requirement.
The minister's statement came as the demand for oxygen and Remdesivir injection grew in view of the alarming rise of COVID cases, leading to their blackmarketing as well.
The government cracked the whip and arrested a few who were blackmarketing Remdesivir injection.
However, the shortage persisted.
There, however, is no crackdown on the blackmarketing of oxygen cylinders in the state.
The grim situation could be assessed from the fact that on Wednesday alone, the state reported 23,558 fresh COVID cases and 116 deaths while the active cases in the state has gone up to 1.76 lakh.
The active cases comprised 904 patients in the ICU.
Bengaluru Urban district alone contributed more than 70 per cent of the cases and fatalities, prompting Sudhakar to call Bengaluru the epicentre of COVID in Karnataka.
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
