Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation today took opposition parties to the cleaners over their propaganda against the vaccine policy. He clearly mentioned that the vaccine policy was changed after demands by states to accord them greater power over procurement and implementation.
Narendra Modi said that numerous voices were raised against the policy such as why were there age groups and why should the central government decide the age limits. He pointed out that some have even questioned why are the old being prioritised for vaccination.
देश में कम होते कोरोना के मामलों के बीच, केंद्र सरकार के सामने अलग-अलग सुझाव भी आने लगे, भिन्न-भिन्न मांगे होने लगीं।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021
पूछा जाने लगा,
सब कुछ भारत सरकार ही क्यों तय कर रही है?
राज्य सरकारों को छूट क्यों नहीं दी जा रही? – PM @narendramodi
He also pointed out that a section of the country’s media turned it into a campaign. Prime Minister said that after consultations, it was decided why should the central government have an issue if states want greater participation.
He said that it was due to demands by the states that the vaccination policy which was in place since the 16th of January was changed to award states 25% of the responsibility. He said the decision was taken since state governments were so keen to participate in the vaccination drive.
राज्य सरकारों को लॉकडाउन की छूट क्यों नहीं मिल रही?
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021
One Size Does Not Fit All जैसी बातें भी कही गईं: PM @narendramodi
Thus, on the 1st of May, state governments were allotted 25% of the responsibility, that is, state governments could purchase 25% of the vaccines available for their citizens. He said that this way, they could realise for themselves the problems associated with such a huge task.
Narendra Modi said that by the end of two weeks of May, states began admitting that the previous policy was better. And slowly, more and more states began joining the chorus. “Vaccination should be left to the states, those who were advocating for it, their views changed too. The good thing was that states reconsidered their views with time still in hands,” he said.
आज ये निर्णय़ लिया गया है कि राज्यों के पास वैक्सीनेशन से जुड़ा जो 25 प्रतिशत काम था, उसकी जिम्मेदारी भी भारत सरकार उठाएगी।
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 7, 2021
ये व्यवस्था आने वाले 2 सप्ताह में लागू की जाएगी।
इन दो सप्ताह में केंद्र और राज्य सरकारें मिलकर नई गाइडलाइंस के अनुसार आवश्यक तैयारी कर लेंगी: PM
Therefore, the central government also thought to ensure that citizens of the country do not face any issue and they can be vaccinated smoothly, and consequently, a decision was reached that procurement of vaccines will be centralised and the center will make available the vaccines to the states for free.
The central government will take over the 25% procurement that was made available to the states. Now, the Union Government will procure 75% of the vaccines with 25% still available in the market for private hospitals.
Thus, very effectively, the Prime Minister busted the propaganda against the centralised vaccination policy by non-NDA ruled states. Although he id not mention that the demand was by non-NDA ruled states, it is widely known that it was they who were making the demand.
Narendra Modi also took subtle jibes at the media which campaigned on behalf of the demands made by the opposition. Likewise, he did not mention any names but citizens were well aware which media organisations have an agenda against the Prime Minister.
Most importantly, the message he conveyed was that the centralised vaccine procurement policy was changed because of demands made by non-NDA ruled states. When these parties realised that the task far exceeded their capabilities, they came back pleading to the center to take the job off their hands.
And since the central government did not wish to risk the lives of citizens, the central government was willing to revert back to the initial vaccination procurement policy.