GUWAHATI: Assam health and family welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma informed that the PPE kits imported by the state from China will undergo quality testing.
As per reports, the state will test these kits even though they are FDA/CCE approved. It is to be mentioned that kits which are not verified by FDA/CCE have to pass the quality test in India.
Assam recently became the first state in the country to independently import 50,000 personal protection Equipment (PPE) kits from China.
The minister mentioned that the kits will be given to hospitals only after testing.
It is to be mentioned that a special flight landed at Guwahati Airport on April 15 with all the PPE kits from Guangzhou, China which would be a great help for the doctors and nurses of Assam in tackling COVID-19.
However, as per a report in The Economic Times, thousands of PPE imported from China were rejected after they failed the quality test in India. Out of the 1.70 lakh kits which were donated by China, around 50,000 kits failed the test, according to the repot. The kits arrived in India on April 5.
Further, some people have also raised their concerns about the same. Responding to Jagadish Bhuyan, former Assam minister and political leader, who enquired on twitter if the PPE kits imported from China by Assam have failed on being tested here, Assam health and family welfare minister Himanta Biswa Sarma replied:
“Dada you will never understand the pain and effort put by our team. Every state is struggling for PPE kits. We had only 10 on 16th March. Anyway you will not understand that. Your words will surely induce fear factor among our doctors. Any way I will ensure that no one demoralised.”
Bhuyan later clarified: “Himanta, I do understand the pain of u & everybody in performing respective duties. You misconstrued my intention completely. I asked a question based on a National Daily just for a clarification regarding test of PPE Kits by DRDO from your side as you are the authority.”
As per a report in the Outlook, procuring these 50,000 kits by the Assam government was not easy. For this, 10 private individuals made advance payments on behalf of the state government, amounting to nearly Rs 15 cores to a supplier in Delhi because as per norms, the government does not make an advance payment.
Further, Sarma also got in touch with Dr Tarun Sahni, a doctor working in Delhi and Ranjit Borthakur, CEO of Rajasthan Royals IPL team. Both Sahni and Borthakur are engaged in workings of Smile India Foundation in Assam. On the minister’s request, they got in touch with officials of Smile Asia in China. This helped in prioritising the PPE kits’ order at China airport and at the customs.
Additionally, a Blue Dart five-hour-long direct cargo flight was also arranged from Guangzhou to Guwahati for the same.
