TIRUPATI: The organisers of Nellore district’s Krishnapatnam concoction for Covid-19 have temporarily halted the distribution due to the scarcity of raw materials and also to make arrangements to ensure strict adherence to Covid protocol.
Thousands of people have gathered in Krishnapatnam village to receive the mixture, though there is no scientific evidence that it is effective. With the local legislator announcing the resumption of distribution from Friday onwards, thousands of people descended on the village. This created chaos at the distribution site and the organisers and police had a tough time managing the crowds.
In the meantime, the herbal preparation proved insufficient. “The district administration is waiting for the lab reports to decide whether to grant permissions for Anandaiah's treatment or not. As thousands of people are anxious, we allowed distribution for only one day. However, it will take two or three days to prepare the concoctions again and once necessary permission is taken, the distribution will be resumed,” said MLA Govardhan Reddy, adding that an alternative location will also be arranged for better crowd management.
ICMR team collects samples of mixture
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to send the Nellore district’s Krishnapatnam Ayurvedic concoction for Covid-19, being prepared and distributed by a self-proclaimed Ayurvedic practitioner free of cost, to ICMR for a detailed study of its efficacy.
Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu asked Union Ayush minister Kiren Rijiju, and ICMR Director Balram Bhargava to conduct a study on the preparation. Naidu was apprised of the prevailing situation and spoke on phone with the Union minister and the ICMR Director and asked them to come out with a report as early as possible, a release said.
Meanwhile, at a high-level review meeting on Covid-19 in Amaravati on Friday, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy directed officials to get scientific evidence for the concoction, which is being promoted by his party’s Nellore district president and MLA Kakani Govardhan Reddy. The CM decided to get it studied by the ICMR and other experts to find out its efficacy.
Following the CM directions, the government sent a team of experts to Nellore for an on-the-spot study of the formulation. A team from ICMR along with district officials visited the medical camp on Friday evening and observed the preparation. Joint collector M.N. Harendira Prasad and district panchayat officer M. Dhanalakshmi accompanied the ICMR team, who collected the samples of the formulation.
