SC constitutes 12-member national task force to distribute oxygen, essential drugs

The court said that this task force will be free to use the human resources of the Union government for consultation and information.

Family members of Covid-19 patients crowd into an oxygen refill center in Kanpur. (Photo: PTI)

The Supreme Court on Saturday formed a 12-person national task force charged with formulating a methodology for the scientific mapping of medical oxygen and essential drugs to states and territories of the Union.

The court said this task force was free to use the human resources of the Union government for consultation and information. It would also be free to formulate its modalities and working procedures.

The reason for creating a task force at the national level is to facilitate a public health response to the pandemic based on scientific and technical evidence.

12 members of the national task force

• Dr. Bhabatosh Biswas, former Vice Chancellor of the West Bengal University of Health Sciences in Calcutta
• Dr. Devender Singh Rana, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi
• Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman and General Manager, Narayana Healthcare, Bengaluru
• Dr. Gagandeep Kang, professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore, Tamil Nadu
• Dr. JV Peter, Director, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
• Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Executive Director of the Medanta Hospital and Heart Institute, Gurugram
• Dr. Rahul Pandit, Director, Intensive Care Medicine and Intensive Care Unit, Fortis Hospital, Mulund (Mumbai, Maharashtra) and Kalyan (Maharashtra)
• Dr. Saumitra Rawat, Chairman and Head of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi
• Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin, Senior Professor and Head of the Department of Hepatology, Director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS), Delhi
• Dr. Zarir F. Udwadia, Consultative Chest Physician, Hinduja Hospital, Breach Candy Hospital, and Parsee General Hospital, Mumbai
• Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (ex officio member); and
• The convenor of the National Task Force, who will also be a member, will be the cabinet secretary of the Union government. The cabinet secretary may, if necessary, designate an official who is not below the rank of additional secretary to step down for him.

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