He's Not a Doctor, We are Ready for Demo Anytime: Ventilator Firm on Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Substandard’ Claim

The owner of an India-based ventilator firm has hit out at Rahul Gandhi days after the Congress leader accused the Centre of procuring “substandard” equipment from the company.

In an interview to news agency ANI, AgVa owner Diwakar Vaish said Gandhi should have done due diligence and consulted doctors before making the claim in a tweet. He added that his company is ready to provide a demo of the ventilator in any hospital.

“Rahul Gandhi is not a doctor. He is an intelligent man. He should have done due diligence before making such allegations. He should have consulted doctors. I am ready to give a detailed demonstration in the hospital on any patient," he said.

Vaish accused international vendors of trying to sabotage Indian companies trying to indigenously manufacture ventilators during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We have not made the ventilator overnight. We have been in the market for three years. We have developed this step by step. This ventilator has all parameters that a normal ventilator has...Our ventilators are five to ten times cheaper than normal ventilators. A normal ventilator costs Rs 10-20 lakh. Our ventilator is just Rs 1.5 lakh… Will international associations, international vendors accept this? That is why they are trying to sabotage us," he said.

Vaish added that if third-party installations in the ventilator were faulty and done without keeping AgVa in the loop, it could result in faulty readings, which he suspected was the case in some hospitals.

"LNJP Hospital in Delhi did not reject our ventilator. They said our ventilators do not have BIPAP and CPAP. But later they sent us an e-mail confirming that our ventilators have BIPAP and CPAP... As far as Mumbai is concerned, JJ Hospital and St George Hospital got the installation done through a third-party. They did not install it properly. Hence, their doctors could not use it. If you put diesel instead of petrol, what would happen?" Vaish said.

In a tweet on July 5, Rahul Gandhi had accused the Narendra Modi government of "wasting" the lockdown by not ramping up health infrastructure and procuring "substandard" ventilators that are crucial for critical Covid-19 patients.

Using the hashtag "BJPfailsCoronaFight", Gandhi had tweeted, "PMCares opacity is: 1. Putting Indian lives at risk. 2. Ensuring public money is used to buy sub-standard products." He had also tagged a news report about ventilator manufacturing firm AgVa providing allegedly substandard ventilators, procured using the PM Cares Fund.