Guruprasad Mohapatra successfully managed the distribution of emergency oxygen in India in the ongoing coronavirus scenario, but lost his own life to the dreaded disease after being hospitalized at the AIIMS in Delhi.
The Gujarat cadre 1986-batch IAS officer was supposed to retire from service on 30 April, 2022. He was the head of one of the Empowered Groups to combat the Covid-19 crisis.
Mohapatra, as Secretary of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), was responsible for monitoring the supply of medical oxygen across the country under very challenging circumstances during the second wave of Covid-19.
However, he contracted COVID-19 in the process of overseeing the oxygen distribution to the affected in the country, and was rushed to the hospital with high fever. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders offered condolences on hearing about the death of Mohapatra.