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Tag: Mansukh Mandaviya

  • Serum Institute of India writes to Union Health Minister proposing reforms in drug regulatory system

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: World’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, Serum Institute of India (SII) has written to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya suggesting reforms in the existing drug regulatory system, including allowing manufacturing and stockpiling of non-Covid vaccines while undergoing clinical trial.

    According to official sources, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based SII, in a letter, referred to a gazette notification by the Union Health Ministry on May 18, 2020.

    He said it allowed manufacturing and stockpiling of COVID-19 vaccine under clinical trial for marketing authorization for sale or distribution.

    “Because of this rule, it became possible for us to manufacture and stockpile the COVID-19 vaccine during clinical trial and we could make the vaccine available in such a short span of time period to protect millions of lives.

    “It will be a big help for the vaccine industry if this rule is implemented for non-COVID-19 vaccines also,” a source quoted Singh as having communicated in the letter to the minister.

    Singh also sought permission to use the remaining quantities of batches of Covid and non-Covid vaccines for commercial purposes which have been used in clinical trial.

    In this context, he said the Health Ministry had issued draft rules dated April 12, 2018, to allow remaining quantities of batches of vaccines which have been used in clinical trial for commercial use after granting of permission in form 46 (now it is form CT-23) and manufacturing licence in Form 28D.

    “However, the gazette notification in this regard has not been issued so far for the implementation of the same,” Singh said.

    He also sought the implementation of recommendations of a high-powered inter-ministerial committee for reforming the Drug Regulatory Systems in India.

    The letter stated that on the directions of the prime minister, a high-powered Inter-Ministerial Committee for reforming the drug regulatory systems in India was formed under the chairmanship of then OSD, Rajesh Bhushan who is presently the health secretary.

    “Recommendations of this inter-ministerial committee should be implemented immediately in line with ‘ease of doing business”.

    The letter highlighted few other points also related to regulatory reforms and stated, “If few rules/regulatory provisions are amended, it will be a great help and encouragement for the vaccine industry to grow faster.

  • No reason to hide Covid deaths; effort is to vaccinate all at earliest: Health Minister

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday put up a staunch defence of the Modi government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and said vaccine production in the country is increasing and the effort is to inoculate all adults at the earliest.

    Replying to a short duration discussion on the health crisis and the vaccination policy in Rajya Sabha, the minister said a package of over Rs 23,000 crore has been approved for strengthening the health infrastructure, including setting up 2.4 lakh medical beds and 20,000 ICU beds, with a special focus on paediatric care to handle any possible third wave of the pandemic.

    Asked by Derek O’Brien of the TMC if the target of vaccinating all by December 21, 2021, would be achieved, he said, “Our effort is to vaccinate all at the earliest.”

    “The work done by the vaccine sector in India is unprecedented. There is no need to raise a question. We will have to trust our scientists. I trust our scientists and indigenous companies,” Mandaviya said.

    On the allegation of under-reporting of Covid deaths, he said the central government compiles and publishes data sent by the state government.

    States governments register deaths.

    “Our job is to publish that data and nothing else. We haven’t told anyone to show fewer numbers (of deaths) or less positive cases. There’s no reason for that,” he said.

    The minister said the prime minister had repeatedly asked chief ministers to do large numbers of testing and record deaths.

    “There is no reason to hide deaths but whom are you blaming? Who does registration? States do. Who decides on statistics? States do. Government of India compiles and publishes data received from the states,” Mandaviya said.

    Taking part in the discussion earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said the government’s COVID-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conservative and claimed the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far in the country.

    The minister insisted that the Centre has never done politics over the pandemic.

    “We never said that this state failed or that state didn’t do this. I don’t want to do politics but many states have 10-15 lakh doses of vaccines with them (and yet are complaining of shortage).”

    On the vaccine production, the minister said the Serum Institute has started supplying 11-12 crore doses per month and Bharat Biotech will start giving 3.5 crore doses per month from August.

    He said transfer of technology to several companies has started and they will begin production in the coming days to reduce vaccine shortage in the country.

    He said that India may become the first country in the world to develop a DNA-based vaccine.

    “Cadila has completed third phase trial of its DNA vaccine and has applied for emergency use authorisation before DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India). Our expert team is looking into it. When this will come in the market, India will be the only country where scientists have developed a DNA vaccine,” Mandaviya said.

    The minister said Biological E is conducting third phase trial of its vaccine and it is expected to make 7.5 crore doses available in the market by September-October.

    “Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech have started trials on children. I expect their trials to be successful,” he said.

    The minister said that transfer of technology between Bharat Biotech and several Indian companies, including public sector enterprises, is underway and it will boost production of vaccine.

    He justified export of vaccines and said it has helped India in getting raw material from abroad.

    “We started Vaccine Maitri because we live with the essence of ‘Shubh Labh’, helping others in times of crisis,” he said.

    Mandaviya said that foreign countries helped India in ramping up production for medicines of Black Fungus.

    The minister said there were earlier only 20 plants that were making Remdesivir, but the number increased to 60 plants with a production capacity of 3.5-4 lakh vials per day as on April 13.

    During the discussion, Opposition members criticised the handling of the Covid pandemic by the government and the vaccination programme and said people were dying on the streets due to lack of oxygen, which is a matter of shame in the 21st century.

    The Opposition members also questioned the government’s preparedness to tackle a possible third wave of the pandemic and suggested for a better coordination with the state governments.

    In his reply, the minister said, “The crisis should not be the reason for politics. All 130 crore people, all governments should take a pledge together that we will not let the third wave come. Our pledge, (PM Narendra) Modi ji’s guidance can save us from the third wave. The prime minister has accepted this and held discussions and meetings with states 20 times. Any matter put forward from the level of chief minister then, Modi ji has taken it seriously.”

    He said that when the state governments asked for powers to procure vaccines, the prime minister agreed and the states went ahead with tenders but no company came forward to supply vaccines to them.

    In response to question on the lockdown in March 2020, Mandaviya said the country then needed to build infrastructure, medical gears, laboratories, etc. to handle the pandemic.

    He said the prime minister had alerted everyone to make arrangements even before the first case was reported in the country in January 2020.

  • Vaccine production rising; India may become first country to have a DNA-based jab: Mandaviya

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said several Indian companies are increasing their production of COVID-19 vaccines and that the country may become the first in the world to develop a DNA-based vaccine.

    Replying to a short duration discussion on COVID-19 management in Rajya Sabha, the minister said technology transfer to several companies has started and they will begin production in the coming days to reduce vaccine shortage in the country.

    “Cadila has completed third phase trial of its DNA vaccine and has applied for emergency use authorisation before DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India). Our expert team is looking into it. When this will come in the market, India will be the only country where scientists have developed a DNA vaccine,” Mandaviya said in Rajya Sabha.

    He said that the country has started getting 11-12 crore doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine per month and Bharat Biotech will supply 3.5 crore doses of its Covid vaccine in August. He said that the states are given vaccine availability projections 15 days in advance and that it’s their responsibility to plan the inoculation drive accordingly.

    The minister said that Biological E is conducting third phase of trial of its vaccine and it is expected to come in the market by September-October with 7.5 crore doses.

    “Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech have started trials on children. I expect their trials to be successful. We need to trust our scientists. I trust my scientists and indigenous companies,” Mandaviya said.

    On the allegation of suppressing Covid deaths, the minister said that the registration of Covid deaths is done by states and that the central government has never asked any state to record less deaths or cases.

    It is not appropriate to say that the Covid third wave will hit children more, the minister stressed citing experience of the previous waves.

    Mandaviya told the House that 316 oxygen plants out of the total 1,573 planned have been commissioned and the rest will start operations by August-end.

    Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge said that the government’s COVID-19 death toll figure of 4-5 lakh is “false” and conservative and claimed the average number of deaths cannot be less than 52.4 lakh so far in the country.

  • Due to ‘vaccine for all, free vaccine’ campaign, in 24 days coverage touched 30-40 crore: Mandaviya

    #39;The world #39;s largest and fastest vaccination campaign under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously creating new dimensions, #39; Mandaviya said in a tweet in Hindi.

  • Union Health Minister Mandaviya slams states over Covid vaccine shortage

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI, BENGALURU: Newly-appointed Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya got into a collision mode with states on Wednesday, slamming them for “creating panic” among people over alleged shortage of vaccines.The Central Government also raised concerns over the slow pace of vaccination at private hospitals. It reviewed the situation in 15 states, including Karnataka, on Wednesday.

    Mandaviya, criticising the states for issuing “useless statements”, alleged that they have mismanaged the inoculation drive. “The states had been informed of available supplies in advance, but they failed to plan accordingly,” he said, denying that there is a shortage of vaccines.

    However, officials from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarkahand and West Bengal confirmed to The New Indian Express that they were facing a shortage of vaccines on Wednesday.

    Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi and West Bengal have shut many vaccination centres due to lack of vaccines over the last one week. In Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, there is a decline in average daily vaccinations since the high of June 21-26.Mandaviya said 11.46 crore doses were available in June and the numbers have increased to 13.5 crore this month. Of these, 1.5 crore doses are meant for private hospitals.

    Terming the pace of vaccination at Private Covid Vaccination Cenres (PCVCs) a worry, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the issue should be addressed immediately. “Many have not placed any indent for the earmarked quantum of vaccines,” he added.But Dr Prasanna HM, president, Private Hospitals and Nursing Association, Karnataka, said they have sent an advisory to 6,000 private hospitals in the State to complete the indenting process by Thursday.Private hospitals in the State can indent up to 15 lakh doses. Prasanna said that frequent changes in vaccine procurement guidelines and no clarity on who to make the payments had led to delays in indenting. 

    “First, we were asked to indent on KPME and then on CoWIN. Also, they said the payment should go to NMH earlier, but now we are directed to pay manufacturers directly,” he added.Bhushan said, “State governments need to facilitate the vaccine procurement by PCVCs. They should review the status of vaccines on a daily basis and ensure indents for the earmarked quantum are quickly placed with the private vaccine manufacturers,” In some states, even though vaccines have been lifted, the administration has been slow, he pointed out.

  • Useless statements being made to create panic: Health Minister Mandaviya on vaccine shortage charge

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Amid complains by some states about shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said “useless”‘ statements are being made only to create panic among the people, and asserted that states know very well when and in what quantity they will get the doses.

    The Centre has informed states about the allocation of doses in advance, he said.

    In a series of tweets, Mandaviya said the availability of vaccines can be better understood by an “actual analysis of the facts”.

    “Regarding the availability of the vaccine, I have come to know from statements and letters of various state governments and leaders. This situation can be better understood by an actual analysis of the facts. Useless statements are being made only to create panic among the people,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

    To enable vaccination through government and private hospitals, Mandaviya said, 11.46 crore vaccine doses were made available to the state governments and union territories in June and this availability has been increased to 13.50 crore in July.

    ALSO READ | ‘Jumle hai, vaccine nahi’: Rahul Gandhi slams Centre on alleged COVID jabs shortage

    The Centre had informed the states on June 19 about how many doses of the vaccine would be made available to them in July, he said.

    On June 27 and July 13, the states were informed about the availability of vaccines every day for the first and second fortnight of July.

    “So the states know very well when and in what quantity they will get the vaccine doses. The central government has done this so that the state governments can do the work of vaccination up to the district level by planning properly and people do not face any problem,” he said, “If the Centre is already giving this information in advance on its behalf and yet we see mismanagement and long queues of vaccine takers, then it is very clear what the problem is and who is the reason for it,” he said.

    Hitting out at leaders who make statements that create confusion and concern in the media, he said they need to introspect whether they are so far removed from the governance process and related information that they are not even aware of the information already being given in the context of vaccine supply.

    Some states like Rajasthan, West Bengal and Maharashtra, which recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Monday, have raised the need for more vaccine doses.

    Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the state needed a minimum of three crore vaccine doses per month to inoculate the entire eligible population against coronavirus at the earliest.

    COVID-19 inoculation sessions were not conducted in at least 25 of Rajasthan’s 33 districts on Monday due to vaccine shortage, a state official said.

    A senior West Bengal health department official also said that the state government was finding it difficult to evenly distribute the doses among its 23 districts.

  • Union ministers taking charge after Cabinet reshuffle vow to fulfil PM Modi’s vision for country

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Several ministers, who took charge after a major Cabinet reshuffle, on Thursday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership and vowed to realise his vision for the country.

    Newly appointed Union ministers and those elevated in the Cabinet reshuffle, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, Anurag Thakur and Mansukh Mandaviya, took charge of their respective ministries on Thursday.

    Bureaucrat-entrepreneur-turned-politician Vaishnaw, took charge as the country’s new railway minister, while Thakur who was elevated as Information and Broadcasting Minister also assumed office. Vaishnaw also holds two other important portfolios of Communications and Electronics, and Information Technology.

    “I thank the honourable prime minister for the great opportunity he has given me to serve the nation. Telecommunications, IT and Railways. There are lots of synergies in the three and I will be working to ensure that his vision is implemented,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

    “Excellent work has been done in the railways over the past 67 years. I am here to take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forward,” he said while taking charge.

    Interacting with reporters after assuming charge as the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Thakur said that Prime Minister Modi has given him a huge responsibility and he will make best efforts to fulfil it.

    He said reaching out to the masses through the Information and Broadcasting Ministry will be his main area of focus. “Modi ji has done fantastic work in the last seven years. My endeavour will be to meet his expectations, reach out to maximum people and take the legacy of my predecessors forward,” Thakur said.

    Late last night, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who was sworn in as a Cabinet minister, thanked Prime Minister Modi, BJP chief JP Nadda and the party leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility to serve as Civil Aviation Minister. “Looking forward to working under the guidance and vision of the PM to build a strong aviation sector for Aatmanirbhar Bharat!” Scindia tweeted.

    आपकी आत्मीय शुभकामनाओं के लिए ह्रदय से धन्यवाद।देश के यशस्वी प्रधानमंत्री श्री @narendramodi जी के कुशल नेतृत्व में, मैं आप सभी की अपेक्षाओं पर खरा उतरने का पूरा प्रयास करूंगा। https://t.co/4Wwa6um6xJ
    — Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) July 8, 2021

    Bhupender Yadav, who assumed charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and as the Labour Minister, said, “I am grateful to the prime minister. I have already taken charge as labour minister. Now I take charge as environment minister. I will put my best foot forward to fulfil the responsibility given to me by the PM and the confidence he has shown in me.”

    Mansukh Mandaviya, who took charge as the country’s new health and family welfare minister, said he is committed to realizing Prime Minister Modi’s dream of a healthy India. John Barla, who took charge as the Minister of State for Minority Affairs, thanked Prime Minister Modi for entrusting him with this assignment and said he would make all efforts to fulfil his responsibilities.

    Subhas Sarkar, who took charge as the new Minister of State for Education, expressed his commitment to devote himself to fulfil the vision of the prime minister.

    Bureaucrat-turned politician Raj Kumar Singh, who assumed charge as the Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy, expressed gratitude to Modi for giving him the responsibility, and said the prime minister has shown great confidence and “we will live up to that”.

    In his brief interaction with the media after assuming charge, Singh said, “We have achieved targets of electrification set by the prime minister well before the schedule and will strive to ensure that the benefits of power and energy sector reach the common man.

    In a major Union Cabinet makeover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday dropped 12 ministers including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and brought Sarbananda Sonowal, Narayan Rane and Scindia and 33 other new members to his government.

    Apart from 15 Cabinet ministers, 28 Ministers of State, comprising new faces and those elevated, were sworn in at a ceremony which was held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

  • Challenges aplenty on tricky track for new health minister Mansukh Mandaviya

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Mansukh Mandaviya is India’s new health minister. Harsh Vardhan’s departure from the post hardly came as a surprise. Most felt that he is being made a fall guy even though the onus of mishandling of the Covid second wave does not stop with him alone. 

    This was the second stint of Vardhan, an ENT doctor himself, as the Union health minister. Ironically, both ended abruptly. The first lasted only seven months during the first term of the Narendra Modi government in 2014. There is a major difference between the two departures the first was sudden but quiet, the second is seen as a punishment for failing to coordinate better with the states and giving false assurances. At one point before the torrential second wave, Vardhan had said the disease was looking at an “end game”.

    Those watching his work closely said the government is aware that the response to Covid-19 management has been inadequate and has led to major dissatisfaction. “In the first wave, the government was unprepared in the beginning but it went somewhat better because of the low number of cases and coordination with states worked fine,” said a member of the national Covid task force who did not want to be named. “However, everything that could go wrong went haywire in the second.

    Partly, it was also Vardhan’s fault who did not read the signs well, was not assertive and was confrontational with the states.” Other experts stressed that while the second wave has subsided substantially, there will still be a massive challenge facing the new minister. “This pandemic has broken the trust in the government health system and that trust needs to be brought back,” said health systems and policy specialist Chandrakant Lahariya. “The new minister will need to recommit himself to implement proposals that have been announced in the last 16 months.”

    Health economist Rijo M John, who has been monitoring the situation in India, said the major challenge for the health minister will be vaccinating as many people as possible with the short supply and before another wave. “There is also increasing vaccine hesitancy, especially among the elderly. In the interest of limiting the severity of future waves, vaccines may need to be taken to doorsteps.”

    ‘Needs careful navigation’ Public health researcher Oommen John said: “Legacies of redundant health information systems, lack of data for proactive policy and a large workforce of underpaid health workforce will need to be carefully navigated.”

  • Parshottam Rupala, Mansukh Mandaviya, Darshana Jardosh made Union Ministers

    By PTI
    AHMEDABAD: Influential Patel community leader Parshottam Rupala, minister in the first Narendra Modi government Mansukh Mandaviya and three-time MP Darshana Jardosh, all from Gujarat, were among those inducted in the Union cabinet on Wednesday.

    PARSHOTTAM RUPALA: Senior BJP leader Parshottam Rupala, who comes from the influential Kadva Patidar or Patel community in Gujarat, had served as the principal of a government school and later as the chief officer of Amreli municipality for five years before taking a political plunge in the late 1980s when he joined the BJP.

    Rupala (66), a native of Amreli district, subsequently rose through the party ranks and became an MLA for the first time in 1991 from the Amreli seat, which he went on to represent for two more terms till 2002.

    He had served as a minister in the then BJP government from 1995 to 2002.

    Rupala became the president of the Gujarat unit of the saffron party in 2006 and remained in that role till 2010 when he was appointed as the national vice president of the BJP.

    Rupala is known for his unique and humorous oratory skills which come in handy for the BJP to keep the rural audiences engaged during election campaigning.

    According to his official bio-data, Rupala, who holds B.SC and B.Ed degrees, had served as the president of the Amreli district BJP from 1988 to 1991 and represented the Amreli Assembly segment thrice between 1991 and 2002.

    However, Rupala never contested any state election again after his defeat in the 2002 Assembly polls at the hands of Congress’ Paresh Dhanani.

    He was first nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2008 and remained a member of the Upper House till 2014.

    In 2016, he was again appointed to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat and sworn in as the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

    DARSHANA JARDOSH: After serving in various positions in the Gujarat BJP for over three decades, incumbent Lok Sabha MP from Surat Darshana Jardosh, is all set for a bigger role as a minister in the Narendra Modi government.

    Jardosh (60), belongs to the Darji community which comes under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

    She made a winning hat-trick from Surat in 2009, 2014 and in 2019.

    According to her official biodata, Jardosh had held the position of the vice president of Surat BJP’s ward no.8 committee in the late 1980s and was later elected as a corporator from the same ward in 2000.

    Subsequently, she was appointed as the president of the women’s wing of the Surat BJP and then as the general secretary of the state BJP women’s wing till 2008.

    In her maiden Lok Sabha contest from Surat in 2009, Jardosh defeated Congress’ Dhiru Gajera by a margin of over 74,000 votes.

    Not a known face outside Surat and someone who likes to keep a low profile, Jardosh emerged victorious in the general elections of 2014 and 2019 winning her seat by a thumping margin of over 5 lakh votes on both the occasions.

    After she became an MP in 2009, Jardosh served as a member of different committees of Parliament, such as committees for chemicals and fertilisers, estimates, empowerment of women, finance and business advisory.

    MANSUKH MANDAVIYA: Mansukh Mandaviya, a BJP leader from Gujarat’s Saurashtra region, has been an important young face in the Narendra Modi government at the Centre since 2016.

    He was first inducted in the Union cabinet as Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Chemicals and Fertilisers on July 5, 2016.

    On May 30, 2019, he was again sworn in as MoS for Chemicals and Fertilisers with an independent charge of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

    Born into a farming family in Hanol village in Bhavnagar district on July 1, 1972, Mandaviya was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2012 and reelected in 2018.

    Earlier, he had served as chairman of the Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited.

    He started his political journey as a member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the RSS’ student wing, before joining the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP.

    Mandaviya became the youngest MLA in Gujarat in 2002 when he was elected from Palitana constituency.

    A postgraduate in political science from Bhavnagar University, Mandaviya is also known for organising long padyatras (foot marches) including two that he held as an MLA to spread awareness on girls’ education and the perils of addiction.

    Taking into account his organisational skills, he was made the youngest-ever secretary of the state BJP in 2013, and general secretary in 2014.

    In 2014, he also became in-charge of the BJP’s mega membership drive during which one crore people joined the party.

    The following year in 2015, he was selected to represent India at the United Nations where he delivered a speech on the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

    As Union minister, he is credited with setting up over 5,100 Jan Aushadhi stores to provide more than 850 medicines at affordable rates and reducing the cost of heart stents and knee implants.

    He was honoured by UNICEF for his contribution to the cause of women’s menstrual hygiene by using the chain of Jan Aushadhi Kendras to sell 10 crore sanitary pads made with oxo-biodegradable technology at a nominal price.