The Government has reconstituted 6 empowered groups(EG) set up for Covid-19 into 10 under section 10(2)(h) and (i) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 to manage the current Covid-19 situation by expanding their scope to look into issues like availability of oxygen, vaccination, emergency response and economic welfare measures.
- A panel for vaccination and to monitor medical oxygen requirements was formed.
- NITI Aayog will be leading 3 of the empowered groups. ICMR will lead 1 of the groups and the rest of the six empowered groups will be led by Union secretaries.
Reconstituted 10 Empowered Groups with their Conveners:
i.EG on Vaccination:
VK Paul, Niti Aayog (The National Institution for Transforming India) (health) member, will be the convenor of the EG on vaccination, it has 10 members, including the Foreign Secretary. The panel will oversee vaccines’ procurement, manufacturing, logistics, daily supply, utilisation, and wastage.
ii.EG related to medical oxygen:
- Giridhar Aramane, Union secretary, ministry of road transport and highways will be the convener of the EG to see the nation’s requirements related to medical oxygen.
- With 11 other members, he will oversee production, import, logistics, matters related to equipment meant for transporting oxygen, Pressure Swing Absorption (PSA) plants and conversion of industrial oxygen to medical oxygen.
Other EG’s:
| S.n | EG on | Convenor | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Economic and welfare measures | Ajay Seth | Secretary, department of economic affairs |
| 2. | Information, Communication and Public Engagement | Amit Khare | Secretary, Union information and broadcast |
| 3. | Emergency Management Plan and Strategy | V K Paul | Niti Aayog (health) member |
| 4. | Emergency Response Capabilities | Rajesh Bhushan | Union Health Secretary |
| 5. | Pandemic response and coordination | Ajay Kumar Bhalla | Union Home Secretary |
| 6. | Augmenting Human Resources and Capacity Building | Apurva Chandra | Union labour secretary |
| 7. | Partnerships with NGOs, private sector and international organisations | Amitabh Kant |
CEO, NITI Aayog |
| 8. | Testing | Dr Balaram Bhargava | Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) DG |
Recent Related News:
On 11th April 2021, the Government of India launched the Tika Utsav, a four day COVID-19 vaccination festival with an aim to vaccinate the maximum number of eligible people against COVID-19.
About Disaster Management Act, 2005:
It was established by Government of India on 23rd December, 2005 for efficient management of disasters and related or incidental matters which extends to the whole of India.National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formally constituted on September 27, 2006 as per the act.
