Hyderabad, April 29, 2021: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir on Thursday advised BJP Govt at the Centre and TRS Govt in Telangana not to treat the vaccination as one of their electoral promises as it involves crores of human lives.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced Vaccination Utsav from 11th to 14th April without even having an idea about the availability of vaccine doses across the country. Consequently, the ‘vaccination utsav’ proved to be a damp squib. Similarly, the Centre announced vaccination of all individuals above the age of 18 years from 1st of May. This too was announced vaguely without giving a thought to the logistics and infrastructure involved in the implementation of this promise. As a result, not many States in the country are in a position to take up the vaccination drive due to shortage of vaccines, manpower or other infrastructure,” he said.
He said even the websites for registration were unable to handle the rush and they crashed within hours of their launch.
Shabbir Ali said that it was easier for PM Modi to get away with the promise of depositing Rs. 15 lakh in each account or giving two crore jobs in a year. “The vaccination against Covid-19 is directly linked with people’s lives. It is the duty of the government to get the entire population vaccinated at free of cost without putting anyone’s life in any kind of danger. Therefore, the BJP Govt should make announcements only after working on logistics and other details. People are already in a panicky situation and they cannot be mentally tortured further by way of making fake promises or showing them false hopes,” he said.
The Congress leader also condemned the TRS Government for the shortage of vaccine, oxygen, Remedesivir injections, other medicines and medical devices/equipment used in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. “Initially, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao did nothing to prevent the spread of Covid-19. TRS Govt miserably failed in minimising the damages during the first wave and it did not change its attitude/approach even during the second wave. The health infrastructure was not improved even by 1% after the first wave of Covid created havoc in Telangana,” he said.
Shabbir Ali also demanded CM KCR to explain allocation of Rs. 2,500 Crore for the proposed free vaccination programme. He said when the entire country was opposing two different prices for the same vaccine, how could KCR agree on prices set by the vaccine manufacturers and even make the allocation. He said that the Chief Minister should clarify the prices on which his government has agreed to procure Covaxin, Covishield and other vaccines. He said that the State Government should also announce the entire schedule of vaccination by giving details of arrival of vaccines at the designation centres and their administration to common people. He said that the government should ensure that vaccination centres do not turn into super spreaders due to negligence.
“Both BJP and TRS Govts must realise that their assurances on vaccination were not electoral promises which can be deferred to other elections. Everyone has just one life and there is nothing anyone can do if that precious life is lost. Therefore, the governments should focus on saving each and every life while leaving aside petty politics,” he said.