No anomaly, gear was meant for those treating H1N1 patients: State govt on row over substandard equipment

He said the old kits had been bought at Rs 115 apiece, while the new ones were costing Rs 1,000.

Principal Secretary (Health and Medical) Amit Mohan Prasad said the PPE kits were procured meant for doctors treating H1N1 (influenza A virus) patients.

“There is no anomaly in supply of PPE kits. Earlier kits were procured in October- November last year aiming at H1N1 and were cleared by a team of doctors and were as per norms. New kits are being procured for COVID-19,” Prasad said, adding that the COVID-19 spread had made PPE kits very costly.

The controversy came to light after Director General Medical Education K K Gupta, in his letter to various medical colleges and hospitals, flagged the alleged substandard material used for PPE kits.

He asked the institutes not to use the PPE kits that had been supplied to them as GIMC Noida and Medical College in Meerut complained of low quality.

The institutes were asked to return these kits and instead use those that met quality standards.

The letter was addressed to the vice-chancellor of King George’s Medical University in Lucknow, vice-chancellor of Institute of Medical Sciences Saifai, director of SGPGIMS and RML in Lucknow, director of GIMC Greater Noida, SSCH-PGTI in Noida and principals of medical colleges in Kanpur, Agra, Prayagraj, Meerut, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Kannauj, Jalaun, Banda, Badaun, Saharanpur, Ambedkarnagar and Azamgarh.

Meanwhile, CM Adityanath, in Friday’s review meeting, instructed officials to clear tender process for roads, cleaning of drainage etc in rural areas as soon as the lockdown was lifted, said Principal Secretary Awasthi.

He directed officials that nobody went hungry and asked them to ensure proper arrangements at shelter homes and community kitchens.

Awasthi said Uttar Pradesh had set a record in food and ration distribution. In the first phase, 7.45 lakh metric tonnes of food grains were distributed to 14 crore people, whereas in the second phase, which began from April 15, 3.38 lakh MT of rice was distributed to 1.78 crore ration card holders, he said.

The CM also directed district magistrates (DMs) and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) to inspect all the hotspots in their respective regions.

Meanwhile, in another significant development, after Pilibhit and Mahrajganj, Hathras became another corona-free district.
Senior officials of districts have been warned of action if any person with coronavirus is found hiding in their regions.