NEW DELHI: BJP on Saturday sought a probe into alleged profiteering by the Congress government in Punjab by diverting Centre-allocated Covid vaccines to private hospitals and demanded that “heads should roll”.
At a press meet, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri referred to questions earlier raised by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi about the central government’s vaccination policy and export of vaccines.
He said the Punjab government’s decision to withdraw the controversial order shows that there was something “fishy” in the matter.
Puri added: “Large doses of vaccines have been found dumped in Rajasthan, another Congress-ruled state,” he said and added, “Government profiteering should stop.
There should be a probe to bring facts in the public domain and heads should roll”.
He also sought to know the “nature of the fund” to which the money received by the state government from private hospitals was credited.
Citing a Punjab government communication, he said it procured Covishield for Rs 412 per dose but sold it to private hospitals for Rs1000 and they, in turn, charged Rs 1,560 from the people.
Two private hospitals in Mohali charged people Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,200, he alleged.
While Congress is busy with the “cricket match” between Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu, this is what is going on in the state, he said.
Under flak for “diverting” Covid vaccines to private hospitals, the Punjab government had withdrawn its order on Friday.
Puri hit out at Congress for allegedly fuelling vaccine hesitancy as some of its leaders “questioned” the safety and efficacy of Indian-manufactured jabs, and wondered if this was because the party wanted imports of foreign vaccines for getting “commission”