BJP welcomes PM’s vaccine announcement; move under pressure, says Congress

RANCHI: The state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday welcomed the Centre’s decision to provide free vaccination for all people above 18 years of age, even as the ruling allies Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the state played down the decision, saying it was taken under pressure from the opposition parties and a recent adverse remark by the Supreme Court on the central government’s vaccination policy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision on Monday. “We thank the Prime Minister (PM) on behalf of people of Jharkhand for deciding to provide free vaccine to all above 18. We also thank the PM for having decided to provide free foodgrains to the poor till November. I also remind the state not to mismanage vaccination programme and check wastage of vaccines,” said Prakash.

Earlier, the states were incurring expense of providing vaccination to the 18-45 age group, while the Centre was procuring

the vaccine at its own expense for persons above 45 years of age, health workers and frontline workers.

Reacting to the development, state Congress chief and finance minister Rameshwar Oraon said the decision should have been taken much earlier, and the Centre should also provide to reimburse the payment that states have made for procuring doses for the 18-45 age group till now.

“The Centre earlier left responsibility of vaccination of 18-45 group to the states, that was criticised by all, including certain sections of the BJP. Our

party, led by our leader, was running a campaign against it also on social media. And under pressure from opposition and an adverse remark from the SC, the Centre has now changed its decision,” said Oraon.

The finance minister said despite non-cooperation from the Centre, the state government already approved ₹249 crore for vaccination, while ₹49 crore was already paid to the two vaccine firms. “The Centre should compensate the expenses that will be incurred in the intervening period by the state for vaccination,” he added.