PUNE:
Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said the Centre would have to bear the cost of vaccinating 50-plus beneficiaries.
“The Centre has been repeatedly making announcements regarding the vaccination of priority population. It has to fund the vaccines for 50-plus people too, given the current funds crunch faced by the state,” the guardian minister told TOI.
The central government is yet to take a final decision on the funding aspect of the 50-plus beneficiaries. Sources in the ministry of health and family welfare, however, hinted at the Centre and the states sharing the cost of vaccinating 50-plus beneficiaries as well as those with comorbidities.
Ajit Pawar said, “Union health minister
Harsh Vardhan had issued a statement earlier that they would be providing vaccines to three crore people, including
healthcare and frontline workers. He issued another statement now that 30 crore people would be given the vaccine. It means the Centre has to cover the cost of vaccinating all the 30 crore people.”
The deputy chief minister also directed all the district administrations to ensure that the Covid-19 mitigation funds allotted to them were spent before March 31. Around Rs887 crore of these funds have remained unspent because some districts incurred less expenditure.
“We have directed all the guardian ministers and the district collectors to spend that amount by March 31 on the healthcare infrastructure. They could use the funds for ramping up the primary healthcare centres and district hospitals,” he said.
He added that in case some funds remained unspent, they should be passed on to other local bodies in the same district to ensure that the money was utilised properly.
‘Pune was on top of chart as reconciliation was not done’
Deputy chief minister
Ajit Pawar said Pune district was on top of the chart of Covid-19 cases on the public portal because the reconciliation of figures were not carried out. The state health officials carried out the reconciliation of figures from over 13,000 active cases to about 5,500 last week. TOI had highlighted the issue.
Still, Ajit Pawar said, there was need to follow the Covid-appropriate behaviour.