Jaipur :
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should clarify which states had demanded to purchase Covid vaccines for the inoculation of the beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group.
“To my knowledge, no state had made such a demand. The PM”s advisors seem to have given him wrong information,” he wrote on Twitter.
Gehlot congratulated the Congress workers for the prime minister”s announcement that the Centre will provide free coronavirus vaccines to the states for the inoculation of all above the age of 18 years.
“I am glad that looking at public sentiments, the PM had to reverse his old decision,” he said in another tweet.
Congratulating the MPs, MLAs, workers of the Congress and the general public who participated in the party”s #SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination online campaign, Gehlot said due to their spirit, the prime minister had to make the announcement, which is a victory of the public sentiment.
In another tweet, he said free Covid vaccination by the Centre was the demand since the beginning and he too had requested the prime minister in a video-conference on April 23 that vaccination for all beneficiaries above 18 years of age should be conducted by the government of India for free.
He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders of the opposition have raised their voices against the wrong vaccination policies of the Centre and several states, including Rajasthan, had to approach the Supreme Court over this issue.
“As a result of this, the PM had to withdraw his wrong decision. However, he unsuccessfully tried to blame the states for his wrong decisions, whereas no state raised the demand or suggested to the Centre for the vaccination of beneficiaries of 18-44 years with their own budget. Better late than never,” he said.
Modi on Monday announced that the Centre will provide free coronavirus vaccines to the states for the inoculation of all above the age of 18 from June 21, and asserted that the vaccine supply would be increased significantly in the country in the coming days.