In May 2020, over 900 gadgets that were sought to be passed off as full-fledged ventilators were obtained by different government hospitals in Gujarat. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani claimed that the ventilator named Dhaman-1 developed by a private company called Jyoti CNC Automation was a “glorious achievement” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India dream.”
The Gujarat government publicized the machine through the media. But the manufacturer never claimed Dhaman-1 was an advanced ventilator. The doctors using the gadget said Dhaman-1 was of little use while treating Covid-19 patients. The gadget caught fire in a hospital in Vadodara in September.
The company that manufactured the machine had earlier been funded by the family of diamond merchants who had presented Modi an expensive suit monogrammed with his name which he wore when he met the then American President Barack Obama on Republic Day in 2015.
This is an episode in the contemporary history of India that must not be forgotten––this is the true tale of a convergence of the so-called Gujarat Model that is more hype than substance with crony capitalism that profits from the pandemic, endangering the lives of patients.
