Oppn pierces govt over vaccine
Mamata, Rahul & Priyanka in three-pronged attack against 'faulty' policy
Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tweeted from his isolation bed at home that "the Central Government's vaccine strategy is no less than demonetisation."
His reasoning was that, "the common people will stand in queues, will suffer loss of wealth, health and life and only a few big industrialists will benefit," as had happened after Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes in November 2016.
Rahul's stinging comments came a day after Congress termed the Centre's new vaccine policy as "discriminatory, inequitable and callous" on five counts, giving a free hand to the private hospitals to exploit the people with arbitrary prices for vaccine doses instead of PM Modi's initial promise of free inoculation to all.
In another tweet, Congress General Secretary Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra slammed the government for allowing export of oxygen and asked: "Who is responsible for deaths in India due to Oxygen shortage."
She said India is the largest producer of oxygen and yet people are not getting it.
“What a tragedy that a country producing the highest amount of oxygen, both for medical and industrial use, has to import 50,000 tonnes as announced last week on April 15, with no timeline set for getting it and rushing to the hospitals where the Corona patients are gasping for breath for survival,” Priyanka said.
Terming Centre’s vaccine strategy an "abject failure", Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said the BJP-led Centre cannot divert blame this time as Jawaharlal Nehru isn't in charge, but Narendra Modi is and he should be protecting Indians.
Priyanka Gandhi said constructive suggestions from opposition parties are being dismissed as politicisation.
‘Testing people's patience’ Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken on Wednesday said that Tuesday night's televised address of Prime Minister disappointed everyone as it was an empty rhetoric.
He alleged that the country from being a Vaccine Leader has been reduced to a Vaccine Beggar and rather than testing corona positive patients, the Government is testing the people's patience.
He also wanted a probe by NIA and ED against BJP leaders and traders in Mumbai and Gujarat for blackmarketing Remdesivir.
He questioned the PM why only 1.3 per cent Indians have so far been fully vaccinated .
As regards Remdesivir, Maken said India exported 1.1 million injections.
He said: "Gujarat BJP President CR Patil said he got hold of 5,000 injections from a “friend. Maharashtra BJP President said he got stocks worth Rs 4 crore from a “friendly company.”
Maken also expressed concern over exodus of the migrant labour.
Mamata slams PM
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee once again wrote to Modi over the prices of the vaccination.
Addressing a press conference, the TMC supremo asked the PM about the ‘discrepancy’ over the prices.
“During the pandemic the first duty of everyone is to save mankind instead of doing business.
The PM should answer this. Till date, we have given vaccination to 93 lakh people in West Bengal and I will ask for one crore more vaccines,” she stated adding that people above 18 years of age will get vaccine from May 5.