Punjab ropes in local units to manufacture life-saving equipment

CHANDIGARH: In its preparations to check the spread of coronavirus, the Punjab government has roped in local manufacturers to supply life-saving equipment such as masks, gloves, other personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, and ventilators.
Additional chief secretary Vini Mahajan said the state government had roped in local manufacturers in order to reduce dependence on outside vendors. Therefore, 10 lakh pieces of indigenously made hazmat suits had been ordered by the central government from JCT Mills in Punjab.Mahajan said to facilitate testing of these suits, the Punjab Police had taken samples through the lockdown to Delhi from where they were taken to the central testing laboratory at Coimbatore via a special flight.
She added that samples of PPEs and N95 masks designed and made at six more Punjab industrial units had left for Coimbatore and Gwalior respectively, for testing. Two local entrepreneurs had come forward with proposals for making ventilators too.
By March 31, the state will have another 25,000 N95 masks, in addition to the 52,500 already in stock, along with one lakh nitrile gloves, she said, adding that the state government already had stock of 26.32 lakh triple layer masks (TLM), another 12 lakh will be received by April 1.
Punjab government has ordered one lakh PPE kits, out of which 7,640 have already been received. The state government also has a stock of 10,425 hand sanitisers and 17,000 viral transport media (VTM) kits, with 2,000 and 10,000 more, respectively, expected to be added to the inventory by April 1. The state government is also procuring ventilators for handling critical cases. Mahajan said that adequate equipment and medicines had already been made available to the government medical colleges at Amritsar and Patiala, besides the Gian Sagar Hospital.