'Cover Antyodaya, BPL and APL in equal ratio': HC asks Chhattisgarh govt to resume vaccination

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh High Court on Friday dismissed the decision of the Bhupesh Baghel government on discontinuing the third phase vaccination process for the 18-44 age group as “wrong and unfair” and said that the government should ensure a maximum number of people get vaccinated to safeguard the lives of citizens.

The state government has halted the vaccination drive for the 18-44 age group after the High Court had on May 4, while expressing its misgivings, directed the state to come up with an alternate appropriate Covid-19 vaccination plan before it.  

On April 30, the state health department had said that due to the limited number of vaccines available to the state, vaccination of people between 18-44 years of age would be held in three stages -- Firstly, the Antyodaya cardholders followed by the BPL cardholders and then the APL cardholders. 

Hearing the PIL and the intervention applications, the division bench comprising of Chief Justice P R Ramachandra Menon and Justice PP Sahu instructed the state government to immediately restart vaccinating the people from all three economic classes — Antyodaya ration card holders (poorest), BPL card holders and APL cardholders in equal ratio till such time that the state files its detail policy report on the vaccination drive. "We have never told to stop the vaccination process", the court asserted.

Amit Jogi, president of the regional outfit Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J), and four others had moved the court with intervention applications against the reservation plan of the state government on vaccination process that offered priority to the Antyodaya over the BPL and the APL category in the 18-44 age group.

“The decision of the court is the victory of justice and we hope the state government would make sincere efforts to change its policy from vaccine for none to vaccine for all”, said Jogi.