Hospitals have to pay green tax to get oxygen supply

Prateek Chauhan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

The Gorakhpur Medical College incident has raised questions on the health facilities available in the hospitals across the country. As oxygen being the lifeline for the seriously ill patients, city hospitals are coming across new challenges. A big challenge for the hospitals is paying green tax every month to avail the regular oxygen supply.

But Safdarjung Hospital has raised an objection. The hospital administration has written a letter to the National Green Tribunal and the Central Health Ministry demanding relief on the green tax.

However, nobody has taken note of this demand.

There is no plant to prepare liquid oxygen, hence, the city hospitals get it from Faridabad, Haryana. And for this, diesel vehicles have to pay green tax on the entry in the city, said a senior administrator of Safdurjung Hospital.

Therefore, in all big hospitals the liquid oxygen is supplied by tankers from Faridabad. Since oxygen does not include in the necessary items, the tankers carrying oxygen have to pay green tax unlike trucks carrying milk and vegetables. The government has exempted ambulances from green tax.

A tanker carrying the oxygen from Faridabad has to pay Rs 4,500 on every trip. In Safdarjung Hospital every month 10 to 12 tankers are being consumed and the hospital has to pay from Rs 45,000 to 54,000 green tax every month, said the administrator.

No doubt patients have to shell out this money from their pockets. But it has to be noted that this is not applicable to Safdarjung Hospital alone, AIIMS, RML, Lady Harding Medical College and other hospitals are also dealing with the same problem, the administrator added.