NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, JUNE 28
The opposition Congress on Monday alleged that despite tall claims by the ruling BJP, the people in Gujarat were not getting coronavirus vaccines due to “mismanagement and poor planning” of the inoculation programme.
Refuting the charge, Gujarat BJP president CR Paatil said thanks to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people were getting vaccines as Indian companies have become self-reliant in vaccine production.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, citing figures, alleged “mismanagement and poor planning” on part of the BJP government in vaccinating people. Notably, there have been reports of citizens complaining about a shortage of vaccines for the last few days.
“As against demand of 1 lakh doses, Ahmedabad city gets only 10,000 doses. In just one week, Gujarat has slipped to the seventh spot in the country in terms of vaccination. Though vaccine is the only remedy against a possible third wave, this government is not at all serious in protecting its own people” Chavda alleged.
“People are not getting vaccine despite standing in long queues. This is the reality, which is in stark contrast with the government’s tall claims. People have been left to fend for themselves by both the Centre as well as the state government,” the Congress leader added.
As against 4.44 lakh doses administered across the state on June 24, only 2.49 lakh shots were given on Monday, showed government data.
In his response, Paatil said India under Modi showed the world how capable the country is in vaccine manufacturing. “We are lucky that Modiji is our PM, as he took quick decisions about augmenting vaccine production. I wonder how many years the Congress would have taken for the same if they were in power. “There was a time when vaccines for smallpox and other diseases used to reach India after 15 to 30 years,” Paatil told reporters in Gandhinagar.
The BJP leader said India is now self-reliant in vaccine production. “What would we have done if we were facing such a situation today? Luckily, we are now self-reliant in terms of vaccine production after the PM motivated scientists to develop vaccines,” said Paatil.
