Jaipur:
A BJP-Congress war broke out in Rajasthan over anti-Covid vaccination with the governor seeking a probe into the alleged wastage of vaccines, the BJP bidding to corner the government over it and the ruling party blaming the Centre for the slow inoculation.
As the BJP demanded a white paper on the alleged wastage of vaccines in Rajasthan, Governor Kalraj Mishra wrote to the state government asking it to hold a high-level probe into the media reports on the wastage of vaccines.
PCC president Govind Singh Dotasra reacted to the twin attack by lashing out at the Centre and blaming the Narenda Modi government in the Centre for the slow pace of inoculation in states.
A media report had recently claimed the wastage of vaccine in Rajasthan, but the state government had rejected it as baseless.
Demanding a white paper on the alleged wastage of vaccines, BJP national spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said it is the people’s right to know the status of vaccines.
The Jaipur (Rural) MP said the Gehlot government has put the dignity of Rajasthan at the doorsteps of the Congress high command.
The Congress government listens only to its high command. In the Cabinet meeting also, no discussions on how to manage the pandemic are held, he said.
The Cabinet meeting is all about the party high command, he added.
Criticising Gehlot, Rathore said the government is going to construct a grand auditorium in Jodhpur but the need of the hour is to vaccinate youths.
He said the state government’s Chiranjeevi Health Insurance scheme is only on papers and no one has been benefited from it.
Governor Mishra, meanwhile, wrote to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot drawing his attention towards the news reports on the alleged wastage of anti-Covid vaccines in the state and sought a high-level probe into the matter, the Raj Bhawan said in a statement.
IT said the governor also asked the government to take effective action against such wastage of vaccines.
The governor also expected the government to apprise him of the action taken in the matter at the earliest.
He also asked the state government to prepare an effective action plan to prevent recurrence of such incidents and take action to make use of each dose of vaccine as a protective shield for each person, a release said.
Describing the vaccine as the only way to save people’s lives during the pandemic, Mishra said the central and state governments are making efforts for getting more and more people vaccinated.
He, however, added that the news of 500 vials found in rooms of 35 centres of the state, and more than 2,500 doses under the wastage of vaccine in Rajasthan is a matter of serious concern.
On the other hand, PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra said due to the wrong policies of the Centre, the pace of vaccination has slowed down in the state.
He said the BJP is making false allegations against the Congress-ruled states.
The Centre’s wrong policies are responsible for the slow pace of vaccination in the state. The vaccine is being purchased by the central government from the companies for Rs 150 whereas the same vaccine is being made available to states at the cost of Rs 300 and Rs 400, he told reporters here.
He said despite giving Rs 100 crore to both the vaccine firms, the state government is not getting enough vaccines for youths.
He said the BJP government was formed at the Center with the votes of youths but now the government is shunning the responsibility of vaccinating the youths and has shifted the responsibility to the state.
