Akankshya Mahapatra 
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harshavardhan. In the letter, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan mentioned the need to set up an additional 19 PSA medical oxygen plants in 15 districts of Odisha. The Union Minister has requested for the establishment of two facilities in Balasore, Balangir, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj districts and one for oxygen plants in Cuttack, Devgarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khordha, Koraput, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sonepur.
In his letter, Union Minister Dharmendra said that last month, the Prime Minister had issued an emergency approval for the establishment of 551 dedicated PSA medical oxygen units from the PM Care Fund across India for public health. Earlier, an additional 162 PSAs were allocated for the installation of the plant. Of these, 21 PSA plants have been set up in various districts of Odisha. It was decided to set up 7 PSA plants by DRDO, 7 by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and 7 by the PM Care Fund. However, due to the prevalence of the second wave of COVID-19 in Odisha, more districts in the state are in need of cooperation.
