Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Thursday claimed the Centre's Department of Pharmaceuticals was slow in granting clearance to essential items imported by the state government in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Talking to reporters here, Tope said he held a meeting with state health officials on Thursday and asked them to grant necessary approval and clearances from their end to make every district self-sufficient in oxygen, medicines and other medical equipment before the third wave of Covid-19.
"The (Centre's) Department of Pharmaceuticals is not giving speedy approval for various essential items that we have ordered from abroad," he said.
"The Union government's procedure is taking more time. It takes various clearances and approvals before the items are dispatched to the state," the minister said.
Tope said the state is expecting around 3.5 lakh vials of Remdesivir, the key anti-viral drug, from abroad in the next one or two days.
The minister also said he has asked district collectors to facilitate more beds and oxygen supply machinery at the earliest.
He said a few days back, the state government floated a global tender to purchase various items, including oxygen tanks and oxygen generators, and it has received proposals from many countries.
"I have asked the state task force to expedite the process of approval, like technical clearance for oxygen generators. We cannot sit on the proposals for five-eight days. Once the approval is given, we can airlift the items and bring them here," he said.
The state is planning to buy around 40,000 oxygen generators, he added.
Tope recently said the state could witness the third wave of Covid-19 in July or August.
On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported 920 deaths due to Covid-19, taking the toll to 72,662, while 57,640 new cases pushed the overall infection count to 48,80,542, as per the state health department