Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog said that the second wave has been more catastrophic than the first one and it overwhelmed the health system for a while. Kant was addressing the virtual ‘Interactive session on Saving Lives and Livelihood’, organised by FICCI, jointly with OYO.

The government has taken a series of measures since then and there has been a steady decline in the number of active cases. “There has been further ramping up of the vaccination drive and the private sector has played a very pivotal role in managing the pandemic and has complemented the efforts of the government in a significant way,” he added.

Kant opined, “There may be a slight demand-supply imbalance in vaccination during June-July but from August onwards there will be an adequate amount of vaccines available. From then on, we should be able to vaccinate everybody in India properly and that should help us,” he added.

Kant further said, “We need to build up both hospital infrastructure and human resources. We need to ensure ICU facility at the grass-root level. This is also an opportunity for the private sector to come forward,” he added.

He emphasised the need to build up a model of private public-partnership in which government acts as a facilitator and the private sector comes forward. 

Dilip Chenoy, Secretary-General, FICCI said, “FICCI will continue to support the initiatives of supporting the livelihoods of those associated with travel, tourism and hospitality industry.”