SURAT: Amid massive shortage of remdesivir injections across the state, the city unit of Surat BJP on Saturday was seen distributing 1,000 vials of the much-needed Covid-19 treatment drug for free to citizens when the state-run New Civil Hospital and SMIMER Hospital had a day earlier declared they had run out of stock.
The free distribution raised eyebrows over how the party could procure such a large stock of injection as the entire state is facing a shortage. While the party sources claim they had placed an order for 5,000 injections and was only trying to help needy people, chief minister Vijay Rupani stated that the government had not supplied the life-saving drug to the party unit. “You need to ask CR (Paatil) how he managed the injections. But he had done this was he is concerned about Surat’s people,” CM told media person when asked where did the BJP chief got the remdesivir injections for free distribution.
Long queue was witnessed outside the BJP office at Udhna where patients’ kin were given the injection on the basis of doctor’s prescription. Questions were also raised as to how could BJP distribute a schedule-H drug from its party premises without a license even if people were bringing doctors’ prescriptions. “They may have tied up with a chemist for distributing the drug,” said Patel.
Surat collector Dhaval Patel too said that the CM has already clarified. But opposition parties criticized the gesture stating that it was a photo-op. Several doctors too questioned the move on their social media profiles.
Meanwhile, when asked by media persons about the distribution of remdesivir in Surat, BJP MP and state party president CR Paatil said that the injections had been procured by some friends in the city and distributed at market rate by the party. He said that the party was committed to distribute 5,000 injections.
Paatil, who was in Morva Hadaf in Panchmahal district for the assembly bypolls, said that the party was only supplementing the efforts of the government. “The injection is available free for patients in government hospitals. There was a shortage of the injections in private hospitals and for patients in home quarantine,” he claimed.
Commenting on BJP’s move, Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda, who too was in Morva Hadaf on Saturday said that the chief minister should investigate Paatil’s source of injections. “At a time when people were feeling helpless and running around for injections, CM should explain whether these had been stolen or robbed,” alleged Chavda.