Rs 36,000 crore earmarked for vaccine plan, yet there is a huge shortage

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday slammed the BJP for attacking CM Arvind Kejriwal and said that the Centre had neither a plan nor a mission to fight Covid-19.

 “They don’t have the vision or purpose for better Covid 19 Management. The nation needs to know what happened to Rs 36,000 crore earmarked for India’s vaccination plan. It has been eight months since the vaccine was developed in India and we still see a huge shortage. BJP needs to accept that it has grossly mismanaged the vaccine plan in India,” Sisodia stated, referring to BJP functionary Sambit Patra’s press conference held earlier in the day.

“It has become a classic trademark of BJP to redirect any blame to Kejriwal whether the question is on procuring vaccines or deliberating on Covid-19 management plan. Where are the vaccines for our children? When will more vaccines arrive in the nation? Why did BJP sell vaccines of our children to other nations? The BJP-led central government was more interested in its image management abroad than Covid management in the country,” Sisodia stated in reaction to Patra’s remarks.

Sisodia asked the BJP to give people an answer. “Instead of finding ways to evade this important topic by blaming everything on Kejriwal, BJP will have to give answers on the Rs 36,000 crore plan to vaccinate people. We need to know why and how this budget has been used. The BJP is responsible for closures of government vaccination centres while private hospitals continue to receive vaccines which citizens have to pay for. BJP is using the backdoor to provide vaccines to private hospitals while government centres with free vaccines face scarcity,” Sisodia stated.

He further said that not one state right now had free vaccines to inoculate citizens. “Was Rs 36,000 crore earmarked for the nation’s vaccination plan or was it BJP’s conspiracy to earn Rs 36,000 crore by selling vaccines? I am again imploring the BJP to understand that the nation needs vaccines. It does not need to hear misinformed opinions against Kejriwal,” Sisodia said.