Mumbai: The Union government on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that anti-fungal drugs for treating Mucormycosis or black fungus had been allocated to states on a need-based system and there was no discrimination against any state, including Maharashtra.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Anil Singh told the court that the Centre had been supplying anti-fungal drugs to Maharashtra on a regular basis.
While Amphotericin B, the drug used for treating Mucormycosis, was in short supply, the Union government had been trying its best to meet the demands raised by all state governments, he said.
"Nobody can dispute we are allocating as per drug availability in the country and the demands raised by states," ASG Singh said.
"We (Union of India) are leaving no stone unturned to see that the drug is available in adequate quantity. A task force is constituted, the SC is also monitoring. We have granted license to six pharma companies to import the latest and most effective variant of Amphotericin B from a United States-based company," he said.
Singh was responding to a previous query raised by the High Court on whether the Centre's allocation of anti-Mucormycosis drugs to Maharashtra and other states was based on a system of "equitable distribution".
The court was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations (PILs) on the management of resources related to the COVID-19 situation and the Maharashtra government's preparedness to deal with the third wave of the pandemic.
The ASG told the court that the Centre had been supplying around 15,000 vials of Amphotericin B to Maharashtra on a daily basis over the last few months, and a total 6,70,000 vials of the drug was allocated across India, of 1,40,260 vials had been allocated to Maharashtra since the second wave of the pandemic.