‘Rahul Not a Doctor’: Firm on His Allegations Over Ventilators

AgVa Healthcare has also declined the reports of poor performance and technical glitches in its equipment.

File photo of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

(Photo: PTI)

Two days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted PM Cares fund over alleged opacity and claimed sub-standard quality products to tackle COVID-19, indigenous ventilator-manufacturer AgVa Healthcare has responded to the allegations saying that Gandhi is “not a doctor”.

The company also declined the reports of poor performance and technical glitches in its equipment.

On 5 July, Gandhi took to Twitter to say, “#PMCares opacity is: 1. Putting Indian lives at risk. 2. Ensuring public money is used to buy sub-standard products.”

“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,” Professor Diwakar Vaish, Co-Founder AgVa Healthcare was quoted by ANI as saying.

Gandhi had shared a report that alleged that the AgVa had fudged software to hide poor performance, quoting an ex-employees of the firm.

The report has quoted former employees saying that the low-cost ventilators made by the company show they were pumping more oxygen into patients’ lungs than they actually were.

"In this, international vendor nexus is very strong. Just like when Indian military equipment was indigenised, there was a lot of negative reviews. The same thing is happening here. What a Rs 10 lakh ventilator does, ours is doing for Rs 1.5 lakh. Will international associations, international vendors accept this? That is why they are trying to sabotage," Vaish said, as quoted by ANI.

“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?” he added.