RAJYA SABHA ______SUPPLEMENT TO SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE ______(Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) ______Tuesday, July 20, 2021 / Ashadha 29, 1943 (Saka) ______

SHORT DURATION DISCUSSION

The management of COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of vaccination policy and challenges of the likely third wave - Contd.

SHRI VAIKO: My heart of sorrow goes towards the people, frontline warriors, doctors, nurses and the medical staff who have lost their lives in their endeavour to save the people affected by corona. Since ancient times endemics and pandemics are happening across the world till now. Lakhs and crores of peoples died due to these phenomena. The human civilization has been getting badly affected at intervals. Now, it is Covid-19 or Coronavirus which has come and is killing countless people. There is news that the third wave may come. Even there is a possibility of coming of fourth wave also. The haves and have-nots, the poor people could not afford to get this oxygen and they had to face the end of life. In Chengalpattu and Ooty in Tamil Nadu, vaccine manufacturing companies should be supported by the Central Government.

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DR. VINAY P. SAHASRABUDDHE: After almost a century, this country has been engulfed by the Corona tragedy. All the Hon'ble Members expressed their respect and gratitude towards our health workers, doctors, nurses, police and sanitation workers. Hon'ble Prime Minister appealed to the people to express their gratitude towards these very health workers. Every effort of the Prime Minister is opposed. It is ideological and personal jaundice from which they should come out. We have faced this tragedy while maintaining democracy. The democracy of this country is like our respiratory system and the commitment of Hon'ble Prime Minister towards good governance and development is like the immune system. This should be kept in mind.

SHRI BINOY VISWAM: I request the Minister that what has happened to the PM Cares Fund. In this country, five lakhs people died. Crores and crores of people lost their jobs. The system failed, the Government failed, let us unite and fight to overcome the failures. I request the Minister to explain us whether he has a plan to devote more funds for healthcare; whether he has a plan for complete and free vaccination which we call universal vaccination at the earliest. The only solution is vaccination. The government has said that Rs.35,000 crores are earmarked for this purpose. And the country needs Rs.34,400 crores for absolute and complete vaccination. So, the money is there. I come from the State of Kerala where even though the number of patients is not very small but the rate of deaths is the lowest in the country. We have an excellent health system there and PHC is the soul of it. It is spread over the State and we could activate that. In the beginning, in the Obituary, it would have been better and sensitive to say one sentence at least about the Corona victims. We fail to do it. Please, increase the health allocation, please activate the under-utilized public sector companies of pharmaceuticals in this country and then we can have the maximum production of vaccines. please, take care of those children whose parents have died due to Corona. please, provide smart phones to all the needy children of the poor sections of the country. Then, give money to the poor people. The government is giving packages and packages. This is very good, but people have no money. please give money to them to survive.

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DR. ANIL JAIN: I think vaccination is the most effective and last way to fight corona in the world. As far as the management of Corona is concerned, no one had any idea of the so rapid spread of this pandemic. We were in the very bad condition in the world in terms of health infrastructure. Despite this, the government fought against Corona on the front foot with limited resources. The era of Corona was made a blessing in disguise, we had limited resources, but we tried to convert this disaster into an opportunity. Not only the government, the people of the country also did this work, the people of the country were encouraged. The Minister of Finance of the country announced a package of 1 lakh, 17 thousand crores on 26 March so that the citizens of the country are not inconvenienced. Food packets were given to more than 25 crore people. The Prime Minister had publicly said in February that Corona was not over yet. The Prime Minister had warned in the meeting of Chief Ministers on 15 or 16 March that Corona is not over yet. Earlier, there was a requirement of 900 tonnes of oxygen in the country, this requirement has increased to 11,000 tonnes. We have to stop the third wave. Today everyone wants to get the vaccine. You should publicize your photo while getting the vaccine so that the public can also be inspired to get the vaccine.

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI RAMDAS ATHAWALE): All the people related to health, sanitation and law and order have contributed in the fight against Corona. I gave the slogan 'Go Corona'. I also congratulate those who did not get corona. We should not do politics on this.

THE MINSITER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS; AND THE MINISTER OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI HARDEEP SINGH PURI): Every single death of any Indian citizen on account of any cause, is a serious matter and is a matter of regret. The virus is our enemy. Fatality rate of SARS is higher that the fatality rate of Covid-19. Millions of people had died of Spanish flu. We were first who stopped the flights coming from China. We went into a total lockdown. But we are told that the lockdown was too severe. When we went into a complete lockdown, the country had not enough medical infrastructure. Initially we imported medical 35 equipment but later we started manufacturing each of these things and started exporting them. This is the achievement. Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute were initially producing the vaccine for India. But we were questioned on this too. You should know that we are also a part of international agreements. Supply chain inputs come from outside the country and you are making politics out of this. We will meet our domestic demand soon. You can see, what is being done with the vaccines in Rajasthan and Punjab. We produced vaccines domestically and shared our expertise, our abilities, and our supplies with our immediate neighbour, as a part of one large family. We are importing also. But, some people wanted to fuel vaccine hesitancy. It was told that domestic vaccine was not effective. May be, they want to have expensive imported vaccines. Two Chief Ministers said that the Centre should not do the vaccine procurement and let the States do it. The hon. Prime Minister agreed to that. But, when the States were not able to do, it is then the Centre that procured them in order to provide them free to the States. The hon. Prime Minister, on 17th March, after speaking to the Chief Ministers of States, had warned them to be careful because the numbers were rising. And, then, there were only 30,000 cases in the country. But, some of them did not listen to that warning.

SHRI ANAND SHARMA: We are very proud, as a nation, of our scientists, of our doctors, of our paramedics, of our epidemiologists and of our vaccine manufacturers. However, India has not been recognized today for its vaccine manufacturing ability. In 1990s, India became the largest vaccine manufacturer of the world. No Government, in Independent India, had faced a pandemic. That is the truth because the last pandemic was in 1918. In fact, the second wave was very tough. This affected the metropolis, towns and villages. We have seen very heartbreaking scenes in this pandemic. This tragedy also occurred in other parts of the world. There is uncertainty about the third wave. The government should inform the country when the third wave will come. No one can say for sure how severe the third wave will be, how many people will be affected by it. No doctor and scientist can tell about the Covid variants. It is also not known whether the vaccine will prove to be effective for the delta variant or delta plus. We should have prepared by drawing lesson from the first wave. This preparedness should be maintained in partnership between the Central Government 36 and the State Governments. After the first wave, there was some complacency and the administration was not prepared. Many facilities that were created during the first wave all over the country were deactivated. We did not realise pandemics have a pattern; the second wave will be more severe; the third wave will come; then, the fourth will come. That is why the Government must ensure today that the facilities that were created must remain in a state of readiness for the third wave. And this is a fact that we grappled with the oxygen shortage and the oxygen requirement suddenly skyrocketed. Industrial oxygen got diverted. We ramped up the facilities. This being a global challenge, other countries came to our help. We were not in a position, in the month of second-half of April and in the month of May, to save our people. This is a matter of solidarity. Now the fight to save humanity is going on. We have to prepare for the next wave. The government should state as to how many PSA plants of oxygen have been commissioned. Five hundred new PSA plants are planned to be installed in the hospitals and district headquarters to enhance oxygen generation and also the PSA plants to be developed by the DRDO. To assure the country, the government should state as to what its current status is and by when it will fill the gap. Also, the government should state as to how many of the excess deaths were due to Covid-19 and how many others. The government should decide how much compensation is to be paid. Moreover, millions of jobs have been lost. Therefore, it is important for us to reflect on the social and economic consequences. One lesson has been, besides the oxygen, was about the blackmarketing of the life-saving medicines. So, the Government must give very clear Standard Operating Protocols and directions because it is being managed through the NDM Act; and all the States must put in place stringent checks so that life-saving medicines is available to the citizens. This pandemic has resulted in mental health and emotional issues, especially amongst the poor, the women. Many children have fallen out of mainstream education and could not attend virtual classes. Internet access in rural India is just 15 per cent and in urban India it is around 42 per cent. 75 to 80 per cent children in rural India do not have any access to smart phones. The Government should create a special fund for such children. It should also create adequate provision for orphaned children. The children who used to get the benefit of Mid Day Meal Scheme, should get dry ration 37 in every state, district, tehsil. A national database of the migrant labourers should be created so that they have access to ration anywhere in the country. The Government claims that the total amount of packages announced is 8.7 per cent of India's GDP but the fact is that the actual fiscal impact is only 1.4 per cent of the GDP. During this lockdown, the business of pedlars and hawkers has closed. Not only in our country but all over the world one third restaurants etc. have shut down. Tourism sector is closed. The Government of India is requested that money be given in the hands of people. Status of vaccination is that the number of people who have got both doses of vaccine is just around 9 crores which is not even 9 percent of total population. We are yet to do a lot of work and for that we should prepare such a roadmap so that there should be no shortfall in it. The question is of our people, our children, our economy and of humanity. I request the Government to make preparation based on what we have experienced in the first two waves of Corona. This will be in the interest of the country and we will be able to show the world that India is ready for this challenge.

THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; AND THE MINISTER OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI MANSUKH MANDAVIYA), replying to the discussion, said: The discussion on the COVID pandemic continued four hours. At the very beginning of the discussion, it was said from both sides in the House that good suggestions should come out from the discussion so that we can make useful preparations for this pandemic in future. The Prime Minister has appreciated on several occasions the States and their Chief Ministers who have done good job. When such a crisis situation arises in the country, all of us have a collective responsibility. All Governments and all common citizens of the country should resolute together that we will not allow the third wave to come in the country. Accepting this, the Prime Minister has faced this crisis based on the suggestions of the states. Modi ji has taken the subjects seriously placed at the Chief Minister's level. Modi ji said that there was no problem if the states also took initiative in health sector. Modi ji said that if any state wanted to import the vaccine, then we had no objection. He also allowed the states to impose lockdown according to their own arrangements. Modi ji has 38 said several times that there was contribution of all the former Prime Ministers in the progress of the country. Modi ji has always said that all of us should work together for the development of the country. When the first case was registered in the country, Modi ji had warned us that we should prepare in advance to fight this pandemic. As a result, screening had begun at the country's borders, at airports and seaports. All of us were working without any discrimination with any state to protect the health of the public. Modi ji's goal is to face the Corona crisis in a better way. We have never played politics in this. On February 3, 2020, the Prime Minister had formed a Group of Ministers to deal with the Corona crisis. Based on the suggestions of all the agencies, it was decided to impose lockdown in the country on the 24th March. In view of the pace with which the corona pandemic was spreading in the world, we needed to create infrastructure to fight it. At that time, we were able to stop this pandemic only due to the imposition of lockdown. The developed countries of the world had also become very helpless in the first wave. In that situation, we supplied medicines to 123 countries. It is a matter of pride for our country that the heads of 64 countries thanked the Prime Minister of India. When our country asked for help from Americain the second wave of Corona, the President of America had said that they could not forget the help that India had given us in the first wave of Corona. The shelf life of the vaccine is 6 months. To protect the vaccine from being destroyed, we had given vaccines to our neighbouring countries through Vaccine Maitri. We also have to remember that our culture is of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' and 'Shubh Labh'. That is why the Government provided free food grains to 80 crore people for one year. If there is any person in the country who awakened this spirit, then his name is Shri Narendra Modi. On the basis of this culture, all of us faced this crisis together. We clapped and beat thali to encourage corona warriors. As a result of this we could fight this pandemic well. The Prime Minister has repeatedly said that if we need to do more testing, then it must be done.

The state registers the deaths, it is the state which decides the figures. This is a matter of responsibility. The data sent by the state governments is compiled and published by the Government of India. The Government of India has not asked anyone to give lesser figures. First, I'll talk about the production of vaccines. When the pandemic 39 started in this country, the lockdown was imposed, the Department of Biotechnology was asked to start work on it immediately. For that a task force was formed, a committee was formed, discussions were held with the scientists, discussions were held with the companies and if they needed financial assistance, they were assured of it. Lockdown was imposed in March and this conversation started in April. Apart from that, the Government of India provided assistance for the technology, for conducting research. Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute, these two companies have done this work in India. Bharat Biotech is an indigenous research, it is a matter of pride for us. The only option we have is to increase the production of vaccines. Negotiations continued with these companies to ramp up the production of vaccines. We also interacted with the countries of the world, the world also cooperated well with us. The Prime Minister of the country himself met with vaccine manufacturing companies, companies doing research in vaccines, so as to encourage the scientists. As soon as the vaccine production in the country increases and becomes excess than the requirement, the same vaccine is going to be sold worldwide, because it will be cheaper than the vaccines of other countries of the world. We have started getting 11-12 crore doses of Serum vaccine every month on a regular basis. Similarly, the production of Bharat Biotech is gradually increasing. This will go a long way in meeting the country's requirement of vaccines. Apart from this, it was said that everyone should be given approval for vaccine production. Not everyone can produce vaccines, it needs 3G labs, it needs that kind of infrastructure. Secondly, Bharat Biotech was asked to transfer technology and provide support to all such companies which have such infrastructure. Also we have relaxed the requirement of testing those vaccines in India which were approved by European countries, developed countries in order to meet the country's requirement. Today, Cadila Zydus has completed its third trial for a DNA vaccine, it is a matter of great pride for us. The trial of the nasal vaccine by Bharat Biotech is also going on very successfully. The work that India has done in the field of vaccines is unprecedented, commendable work for the country. On this basis, we used to say that we will be able to vaccinate the citizens of our country above the age of 18 years before December. As far as vaccination of children is concerned two companies of the country, Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech, have 40 started trials on children, which is going on successfully. Now it comes to vaccination. We have done vaccination based on availability. We give prediction to all the states 15 days in advance that you will get this much vaccines and you plan on that basis. We have to vaccinate all. From the last week vaccination has started at the rate of 50 lakhs per day. It is the responsibility of all of us that we should work together for this.

India has vaccinated about 41 crore and 20 lakh persons as on date while US has administered 33 core and 80 lakh vaccine doses to its people. Thus, we have vaccinated more people than even the US which has no lack of resources and is a developed nation. The pace of vaccination in our country will continue to increase as the production of vaccines is ramped up. There is an apprehension that if the third wave of the covid comes, it will affect the children more. We are vigilant about such a situation so as to avoid any untoward incident from happening. But as the sero survey indicates, the children have been the least affected from the effect of covid. So it's not right to predict that children will be affected more in the case of a third wave. We want to make sure that there is no shortage of any medicine to combat covid as happened in the case of remdesivir. Similarly, you might have seen that in view of the unprecedented rise in demand for oxygen, we left no stone unturned to ensure the availability of oxygen for the hospitals. Hon'ble Piyush Goyal ji deployed several trains to transport and supply oxygen to the hospitals. We also engaged Air Force planes. We engaged the Navy to bring oxygen from from foreign countries. We instructed our industries not to use oxygen in their plants for some time and supply the same to hospitals as saving lives was our first priority. In order to avoid any such situation in future that arose in the second wave of this disease, we declared a Covid Management Response Package of 23 thousand crores under which there is a provision of setting up paediatrics ward, ICU, arrangement of ventilators and a buffer stock of essential medicines at the district level to combat this disease.

Discussion concluded.

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SUPPLEMENTARY DEMANDS FOR GRANTS, 2021-22

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE (DR. BHAGWAT KISHANRAO KARAD): I lay on the Table, a statement (in English and Hindi) showing the Supplementary Demands for Grants, 2021-22.

Desh Deepak Verma, Secretary-General. [email protected]

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