Supreme Court asks Delhi to ‘cooperate’ with Centre in managing COVID

The Supreme Court on Friday (April 30) told the Delhi government to “cooperate” with the Centre in the management of COVID-19 pandemic without any “political bickering”.

On record, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal may thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre for their cooperation at the time of COVID, but it is well known that there is a serious lack of coordination between the two governments, which was exposed when the sudden shortage of medical oxygen hit Delhi hospitals last week.

“We want to send a message to the Delhi government that it must take the approach of cooperation. Please send message to the highest level that at extreme times, there should not be any political bickering. Politics is for the time of elections. Now the citizens’ lives are at stake. We want cooperation,” a Supreme Court Bench said on Friday.

In response, the Delhi government assured the apex court that it will take effective steps to get control of the situation.

The Supreme Court also told the Union government that it has a “commitment” towards the people of Delhi since the national capital “represents micro problems of the country”.

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“As a national authority towards the capital, this is the commitment you owe to citizens in Delhi,” said the bench hearing matters related to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the Union government told the Supreme Court there is no oxygen shortage in the country and therefore there is no need to panic. “There is no shortage of medical oxygen in the country, supply being augmented for COVID-19 relief,” the Centre said during the hearing.

Senior Union government officer Sumita Dawra made a presentation before the court on how the Centre is managing the oxygen and medicine supplies in the wake of pandemic.

Dawra said, “The Government of India has to do the balancing act because providing medical oxygen to one state requires rerouting supplies from some other state, which results in charges of bias or favouritism.”

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COVID has infected over 3.86 lakh people in India and killed 3,498 in the last 24 hours.

Several countries and international organizations have extended a helping hand to India in these times of crisis.