Pratap Sarangi said everyone in the country will receive the free COVID vaccine (Representation)
Bhubaneswar:
Union Minister Pratap Sarangi said on Sunday that everyone in the country will receive a free COVID vaccine, amid demand from opposition parties in the country for this vaccine and not just in Bihar linked to the polls , as announced by the BJP.
The BJP’s announcement of a free COVID vaccine for Bihar, where Assembly polls begin this week, had sparked controversy with opposition parties tearing the NDA government apart by alleging the ruling party was using the pandemic for political reasons.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the announcement was in order as it was an election manifesto announcement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that everyone will receive free vaccines. About 500 rupees will be spent on immunizing each person, Sarangi told reporters after speaking at a campaign meeting for the November 3 assembly in Balasore.
PM Modi said in a televised address to the nation on Oct. 20 that Indian scientists are developing several vaccines that are in different stages of clinical trials and the results look encouraging.
Mr Sarangi, Union Minister of State for Livestock, Dairy, Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, responded to the question posed by the Minister of Food Supply and Welfare -be Odisha consumers, RP Swain.
Mr Swain had asked Dharmendra Pradhan and Sarangi for clarification earlier in the day, with the two Odisha union ministers questioning them for their silence on their BJP party’s position on free COVID-19 vaccination for the population of the State in the sense of it. promised in Bihar.
The governments of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Puduchchery have already announced free COVID vaccines for residents of their states, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded a free vaccine for all citizens of the country.
Mr Swain had tweeted: “I am asking two ministers of the Odisha union of Balasore soil to clarify the reasons why the people of the state will not get the free COVID vaccine. Union ministers should clarify the position of the BJP on corona vaccination in Odisha. “
On state government immunization measures, Mr Swain said he signed an agreement with a vaccine manufacturer and pledged to expand the facility to everyone in the state.
He did not say whether the state government will provide the vaccine to the population free of charge, however.
BJP Deputy Head of Odisha Assembly Bishnu Charan Sethi said the Center fully supports Odisha during the pandemic and has granted Rs 22,000 crore for this purpose.
“But large-scale failures have been detected in the use of the fund,” he said.
