Financial Times: India's Supreme Court is setting up a working group on the oxygen crisis

The British Financial Times newspaper, in its Sunday edition, shed light on the decision of the Supreme Court in India to form a task force as part of efforts to improve the distribution of medical oxygen across the health care sector in the country, as it struggles to contain a second wave, more brutal and deadly, from the emerging corona virus waves. Covid-19 ".

The newspaper reported (in a comment published on its website in this regard) that the court, which criticized the central government's handling of the worsening health crisis, announced on Saturday the formation of a committee to create an "effective and transparent mechanism" to allocate oxygen supplies to states and hospitals across the country.

The newspaper pointed out that this decision came after weeks of quarrels between the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state governments over the supply of oxygen. The court affirmed that the 12-member committee "will facilitate the public health response to the epidemic based on scientific and specialized knowledge in the field."

India recorded more than 400,000 new cases of Covid on Saturday and more than 4,000 deaths, although large parts of the country are subject to varying degrees of curfews and closures. The state of "Tamil Nadu", the hub of India's auto industry, announced this weekend that it would impose a two-week lockdown starting Monday.

Also, the "Financial Times" highlighted that the outbreak of the Corona virus that has overwhelmed the health system in India has led to the emergence of a black market for oxygen; Wealthy citizens seek life-saving medical care, while the National Police announced the confiscation of hundreds of oxygen cylinders hidden in New Delhi's high-end restaurants.

In a series of tweets posted on social media in recent days, police said they recovered 524 discs from a farm on the outskirts of the capital and in restaurants in the famous Khan Market in Delhi.

Police added that the oxygen concentrators, which are used to deliver pure oxygen to Covid-19 patients, are being sold at least 3.5 times their normal price. She emphasized that the shortage of supplies such as medicines has created strong financial incentives for those wishing to engage in fraud, piracy and fraudulent medicine.