Deepali Kalia
Manipur High Court on May 18 asked the Centre to address the issue of supplying adequate financial support to the state of Manipur in order to deal with the COVID crisis caused by the second wave of the pandemic.
A division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Kh Nobin Singh upon noting that there was no machinery to monitor the treatment of patients in the hospital directed the state government to make the necessary arrangements in this regard.
The court also appreciated the step of the state government in constituting a State Oxygen Management Team in order to deal with the present oxygen demand and supply of the available oxygen to COVID patients and remarked that, “It would be for each hospital concerned, including the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, to place its current demand before the said Team, basing on the number of patients admitted in that hospital who need oxygen. The Team shall thereupon allocate the oxygen available to all the hospitals equitably.”
Court also remarked that the news updates rendered in the papers, “would lend transparency to the entire process apart from keeping the public at large informed of the steps being taken by the Government.”
Lastly, the court asked the Union of India to address various issues raised by the respondents in their replies such as the issue of providing sufficient financial assistance to the State of Manipal, the increase in no. of serious cases needing enhanced oxygen supplies.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on May 27.