Dharmendra Pradhan dedicates 100-bedded COVID care facility in Rourkela Steel Plant

Rourkela:2/6/21:Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Steel Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today dedicated to the nation, Ispat Nidaan Kendra, a 100-bedded COVID care facility in SAIL’s Rourkela Steel Plant, Odisha. The facility will be later scaled up to 500 beds. All the beds in this Jumbo COVID-care facility have the provision of gaseous oxygen directly through dedicated line drawn directly from the oxygen unit of the steel plant. The provision of gaseous oxygen will help in getting rid of the need to replenish cylinders and the logistic issues, besides ensuring uninterrupted availability of the life-saving gas. This jumbo facility, which has been set up within a record time, is in addition to the beds and ICU beds already made available earlier for fight against COVID.

The virtual event was also attended by the Minister of State for Steel Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste, Odisha Health Minister Shri Naba Kishore Das, MP from Sundargarh Shri Jual Oram, elected representatives from the area, Chairperson and CEO of SAIL Ms Soma Mondal, and Senior Officers of the Ministry of Steel and SAIL.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said that this massive facility will help in containing the second wave of the Covid pandemic in the Southern Rourkela region and also strengthen healthcare response in the wake of a possible third wave. The permanent facility will also be used for non-Covid treatment post the pandemic, he added.

The Minister said that SAIL’s IPGI-SSH is already in the service of the COVID patients of the region. Recently, a 100-bedded ICU at the hospital was pressed into service to save lives. A virology laboratory was also set up at the hospital to facilitate RT-PCR testing, whose capacity has been enhanced from 60 to about 550 per day and will be increased to 1000 within a short time.   He said that SAIL has been a frontrunner in producing and supplying Liquid Medical Oxygen, as well as in enhancing health and medical facilities in and around its plants. He appreciated SAIL for its tireless efforts in supplementing government’s efforts in fighting this pandemic.

Shri Pradhan said that Modi government has been sensitive to the needs of all sections of the society, and has acted in the true spirit of cooperative federalism to contain and mitigate the impact of the Covid pandemic. From setting up COVID-care centres, such as at Rourkela, to giving free vaccines to states, from managing the supply of liquid medical oxygen to equipping the states with other critical resources, the Centre has stood by the states and worked hand-in-hand to tide over the pandemic. He said that yesterday only, 12^th board exams were cancelled to ensure safety of our children amidst the pandemic.