Road Ministry has advised States to prioritise oxygen tanker drivers for vaccine and Covid-19 treatment.
The Road Transport Ministry has also advised States and Union Territories to create a pool of trained drivers for driving oxygen tankers, of which 500 drivers be made available immediately, and the number of drivers has to be increased to 2500 in the next two months.
“Drivers may be facilitated with a special Covid vaccination drive and priority in admission and treatment in hospitals, in case they are found Covid infected,”the Ministry said in a release on Saturday.
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States and Union Territories have been requested to recommend some local drivers with Heavy Motor Vehicles or hazardous chemical license to opt for training programs made by Logistics Sector Skill Council (LSSC), Indian Chemical Council (ICC), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and medical oxygen manufacturers.
Heavy Motor Vehicle license holders can be skilled in hazardous chemicals and Liquid Medical Oxygen handling through short (three or four days) program and apprenticeship.
Also, a list of all the skilled drivers would be made available on a digital platform and the services of these trained drivers could be utilised for carrying cryogenic LMO tankers.