Surjewala terms export of masks, ventilators till Mar 19 - 'criminal conspiracy'

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Monday said that allowing the export of varieties of masks, ventilators, and raw textile materials for making masks and coveralls to go on till March 19, even when the World Health Organisation (WHO) had asked for stockpiling them due to the impending coronavirus crisis, was a "criminal conspiracy".

"Respected PM, This is Criminal Conspiracy! As WHO asked for stockpiling of-: 1. Ventilators, 2. Surgical Masks/Disposable Masks, 3. Raw material for Masks/Coveralls, India permitted their export (at 10 times the price) uptill March 19. Why?" Surjewala's tweet read.

The Congress leader's tweet also had a copy of the government notification issued by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade on March 19 which prohibited the export of the aforementioned commodities.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution had on Friday issued a notification stating that the retail prices of masks (3ply surgical mask), shall not be more than the prices prevailing on the day a month prior to March 13.

"The masks shall not be over Rs.10/piece whichever is lower than that of a mask (2ply) shall not be over Rs.8/piece," informed the notification.

This notification shall remain in force till June 30, 2020.

The number of coronavirus positive patients in India rose to 415 on Monday, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.