The Congress on Monday asked the Narendra Modi government to make public details of all relief material received from abroad and demanded that it should be transparent in its distribution.
Separately, former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh asked the government how Gujarat managed to administer most vaccines in the age group of 18 to 44 years after the drive for this age group was rolled out on May 1.
“Why Gujarat alone had 60% of all 18-44 age vaccinations on May 2? Why only 11 States were able to vaccinate in the same age group? Why is the total vaccination in the 18-44 group for the day ONLY 86,023? Source: Press Information Bureau, 02.05.2021. @drharshvardhan @PrakashJavdekar @narendramodi” asked Mr. Ramesh on twitter.
He also shared the data that showed Gujarat had vaccinated 51,622 people while larger States like Uttar Pradesh (15,792) and Maharashtra (12,525) came much below.
Addressing an online press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the party that wanted to make India Congress-free would now strive to make the country corona free. Taking a swipe at Health Minister Harsh Vardhan over vaccine shortage, Mr. Khera said the world’s largest vaccine programme is being undertaken without vaccines.
“The Prime Minister should make public the relief coming in from various countries to ensure transparency, so that people would know where the relief material is coming and going. This is our demand as well as that of the people of the country,” he told reporters.
“Please be transparent. Everybody is fighting this pandemic together. But for this fight to succeed, the keystone is sincerity and transparency,” he said, stressing that the Congress is with the government in the fight against the virus.
Mr. Khera also slammed the government for trying to manage perception more aggressively than fighting the pandemic by meeting requirements such as hospital beds, oxygen and life saving medicines.
“If this government has done anything, it is media management and headline management but not crisis management in these tough times,” he alleged. “It is an irony that the government considers the Central Vista an essential service while thousands of people are craving for oxygen and vaccines. You [Centre] are patting your back for the world’s largest vaccination project, without vaccines being made available.”
Taking a dig at External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar after the Minister got into a twitter war with Congress leaders over reports that the Indian Youth Congress had come to the rescue of some foreign embassies to provide oxygen, he said, “Stop questioning the embassies. Start questioning yourself...It is a shame for the country that we have come to this.”