Ma Subramanian, Tamil Nadu’s new Health Minister, is a man on the move. In two months of taking over, he has visited 30 of 38 districts in the state to review the Covid-19 situation. In an interview with DH’s E.T.B. Sivapriyan, he spoke on the Centre’s vaccination policy, the state’s preparedness for any third wave of infections, and how oxygen supply was managed during the second wave. Edited excerpts:
Q: Though the overall tally is coming down, there seems to be a marginal increase in the number of fresh cases in a few districts where lockdown norms were relaxed earlier. What is the government's plan to control the spread and avoid another wave of infections as uniform relaxations kick in?
A: When the DMK government assumed office on May 7, the daily count was 26,465 fresh cases and the number attained a peak of 36,184 new infections on May 21. Since then, there has been a steady decline in the number of cases and the daily infection number on Monday stood at 3,715. We did notice a marginal increase in the number of cases compared to the previous day in a few districts, but the trend is not continuing which is a welcome development. Despite the number of people testing positive for the novel Coronavirus coming down drastically, we have not scaled down the daily testing numbers which still hovers around 1.60 lakh to 1.70 lakh. This is in contrast to the first wave when the testing numbers were reduced as cases were on a decline. We are not letting our guard down. As the relaxations kick in, our focus is now on enforcing Covid-19 rules and appropriate behaviour. Civic authorities and police will work overtime to ensure people wear masks and maintain physical distancing. People who break the rules will be fined as per the law.
Q: The new government was credited with managing a smooth supply of oxygen to government and private hospitals by preventing a “Delhi-like” situation in TN. How was the oxygen supply managed?
A: It was very tough to handle the situation. Immediately after assuming office, our Chief Minister (M K Stalin) spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and was in constant touch with Union Ministers. The oxygen requirement which was just 230 MT shot up to 620 MT a day and we were defusing one crisis after another. We encountered situations where hospitals made SOS calls for oxygen saying they have O2 supply only for another half hour or one hour. There was panic everywhere. But we sourced oxygen from far-away cities like Rourkela, Durgapur, and Jamshedpur and ensured that no hospital ran out of oxygen. A team of three IAS officials oversaw oxygen supply and thankfully we were able to overcome the crisis. We pulled all stops – sourced oxygen from wherever we could and even imported cylinders from countries like Singapore. We worked on a war-footing and eventually ensured a smooth supply of oxygen.
Q: There is no consensus among experts on whether there will be a third wave of infections. Is the government prepared to face any wave of infection in the next few months?
A: There should be no third wave. We just hope there is no such thing called (a third wave). However, we cannot take chances when it comes to saving lives. As we speak, 80,000 beds are ready and most of these are fitted with oxygen supplies. In addition to these facilities, we also have 75 centers that treat Covid-19 using various methods of Indian medicine like Siddha. And our oxygen storage capacity has now increased to 900 MT. We have procured oxygen concentrators and oxygen cylinders on our own and through CSR funds from corporates. We have also set up new oxygen generation plants in hospitals and other places. Since there is an apprehension that children could be the worst affected during the third wave, we are focusing on augmenting pediatric infrastructure by setting up exclusive Covid-19 wards for children in all government hospitals in the state. After assuming office, we have recruited 16,300 doctors, nurses, health care and frontline workers to treat patients. We just hope there is no (third) wave of infections, but the government machinery is fully equipped and prepared to face any eventuality.
Q: The government is understood to have taken a decision not to dismantle the temporary infrastructure created to handle the second wave. How long does the government plan to keep them and why?
A: Reports say the third wave could hit in November or December, though no one is sure on whether there will be another wave of infections. The second wave was more vociferous than the first wave and the need for oxygen was enormous. Learning from the experience, the Chief Minister has asked us not to dismantle the infrastructure. It is an additional expenditure for the state to keep them intact. But we cannot worry about finances when we deal with human lives. We will not dismantle the infrastructure for another five to six months. We will keep them intact till the end of this year as the priority is to save lives.
Q: NGOs allege that the Tamil Nadu government has been under-reporting Covid-19 deaths ever since the pandemic began in March 2020. They say the state’s Covid-19 tally could be over 1 lakh, but the official toll is around 35,000. Your response.
A: Why should we under-report Covid-19 deaths? What is that the government gains from under-reporting the deaths. I have travelled to 30 districts in the past two months, and I emphasize transparency in reporting Covid-19 deaths in every meeting with district collectors. My personal opinion is that only if we tell the people the true number of deaths, will they take Covid-19 infections seriously. Otherwise, they will think it is a normal fever and continue to flout rules by not wearing a mask. Having said that, I would like to assure you that we are being transparent, and we have no intention of hiding any deaths. Reconciliation of deaths happen periodically and Covid-19 deaths which were left out for various reasons are added to the official death toll at the end of the process.
Q: From vaccine hesitancy, Tamil Nadu now faces vaccine shortage. People are willing to get vaccinated and stand in long queues, but many vaccination centers are closed as we speak. Why is the shortage and how does the state plan to plug the gap?
A: From January to May, the vaccination drive did not take off quite well. Once we opened up vaccination for the 18-44 age group, people came in large numbers and got vaccinated. In June, the Union Government gave us a special allotment of 5 lakh doses after seeing the state’s performance. The state has performed well on the vaccination front in the past two months and we were the first to organize a special drive for pregnant mothers within hours of the Union Government’s announcement in this regard. We have so far received about 1.58 crore doses, and we have utilized almost all of them. Many vaccination centers have already run out of vaccines. If we do not get fresh supplies from Delhi, we have no option but to suspend the drive temporarily. The Chief Minister himself has written to the Prime Minister and Union Health Minister asking them to allot vaccines in proportion to the population of states. We have also asked the Union Government to allow the production of vaccines in two facilities in the state. We have not received any response so far for our requests. It will be good if the Union Government agrees to our request and allot additional supplies. We will have to wait and watch what they do.
Q: Why do you think the Union Government is not responding to requests from TN? Do you feel the Centre goofed up on the vaccination front?
A: Our prime demand is that vaccines should be allotted in proportion to the state’s population. Seven states have a high population in the country and Tamil Nadu is one among them. We need more vaccines and we have informed the Union Government. I feel the situation (on vaccination) would have been better if the decision (of the Centre) to bear the costs of vaccinating the entire eligible population had come earlier. The right decision would have been to announce a uniform policy when it launched the vaccination drive. Even now, we have requested the Union Government to change the 75:25 allocation to states and private hospitals to 90:10 but there is no response. If this proposal is accepted, we will get a few lakh vaccines that can be used in centers run by the government.
Q: What is DMK’s stand on NEET? The Supreme Court has said NEET is mandatory and laws passed by the TN assembly seeking exemption from NEET were rejected by the President. How will DMK’s efforts to get an exemption from NEET be different from these methods?
A: In 2006 when Kalaignar (M Karunanidhi) was Chief Minister, he constituted a committee under Prof M Ananthakrishnan which recommended doing away with entrance exams. The new government has formed a panel to study the impact of NEET on students from economically backward sections. The Justice A K Rajan committee will submit its report in a month. Even without waiting for the outcome, the BJP moved the Madras High Court against the constitution of the panel. The cat is finally out of the bag. While the entire political spectrum is against NEET, BJP supports the exam that has claimed the lives of 13 students in Tamil Nadu. It shows how concerned the BJP is about the students and their lives. As far as the DMK is concerned, we are committed to doing away with NEET and we are determined to use every option that is available to us in this regard. The avenues available to us are the state assembly, parliament, and judiciary. We also hope the committee comes out with suggestions and options on the issue of doing away with NEET.
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