'New vaccination policy regressive, inequitable'
New Delhi: A day after the announcement of vaccine policy for all above 18 years and above, the Opposition on Tuesday attacked the government by alleging that the Centre's new vaccine policy is "discriminatory, anti-equity and haphazard policy" and that there is no vaccine guarantee for the weaker sections.
Hitting out at the government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was tested Covid-19 positive on Tuesday, said that there will be no free vaccines for those between the age of 18 and 45 years.
"No free vaccines for 18-45-year-olds. Middlemen brought in without price controls. No vaccine guarantee for weaker sections. GoI's vaccine discrimination-not distribution-strategy," he said in a tweet.
Questioning the pricing modalities under the new policy, which allows manufacturers to fix the prices of their shots, the Congress said that the plan was "regressive, inequitable and anti-competitive".
The party also said that the new policy would put an additional burden on states which are already cash-strapped.
"This is a government that believes in 'one nation one tax, one nation one election', but this is a government that does not believe in 'one nation, one price'," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Ramesh further alleged that the Central government will get 50 per cent of the vaccines and the rest 50 per cent will be divided among private hospitals and state governments.
"This is very unfair. This is inequitable. We want states to get greater responsibility, but, this is actually not giving the states any responsibility. So 'one nation, one price'. We cannot have 'one nation, multiple prices'," he told reporters.
Present on the occasion, former finance minister P Chidambaram claimed that the Union government has finally acknowledged the problem of vaccine shortage
and other deficiencies in the current policy.
"While we welcome the positive changes made to the policy...the modified vaccine policy is, in crucial respects, regressive and inequitable," he said, adding "Under the modified vaccine policy, the Union government is running away from taking responsibility, overburdens the states, encourages vaccine manufacturers to profiteer, and will worsen the inequality between states as well between poor and rich Indians."
Attacking the government, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal asked why he was not showing the same passion to win the war against coronavirus as shown to win elections.
"Modiji, you use all your might, muscle power, lung power, resources to win elections. Why not the same passion to win the war against Coronavirus for: our people?" Sibal said in a tweet.
In a statement, the CPI(M) said, "This policy is essentially an effort to liberalise vaccine sales and deregulate prices, without augmenting supply. The centre has failed for a year to do anything to ramp up adequate and needed vaccine supplies. This is a recipe for exclusion of crores of people who will find it unaffordable to procure the life-saving vaccine."
