JAIPUR: Chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday expressed happiness that PM Narendra Modi changed his decision and decided to make the Covid vaccination drive free.
He, however, questioned the prime minister’s claim that it was on states’ demand that the Centre had given the responsibility of 18+ vaccination to them.
Gehlot in a series of tweets said, “I am happy that the PM had to change his decision keeping in view the public sentiments.
He claimed that it was due to the campaign by the Congress that forced the central government to change its stand.” BJP leaders react“Congratulations to all the MPs, MLAs, Congress workers and general public who participated in the campaign run by the state Congress party in Rajasthan #SpeakUpForFreeUniversalVaccination.” “It is due to your sentiment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji had to announce free vaccination for all the countrymen.
This is a victory of public sentiment,” he said.
Gehlot countered the prime minister’s claim that it was due to the demand of the states that the responsibility of vaccination for 18+ was given to them.
“Prime Minister Modi should inform which states had demanded to buy and provide the vaccine for the age group of 18 to 44 years.
To my knowledge, no state had made such a demand.
The PM’s advisors seem to have given him wrong information,” he said The chief minister said, “From the very beginning, our demand was that like vaccination programmes in the past, Covid vaccination should be done by the Centre free of cost.” In the video conference held on April 23, I myself requested the PM to conduct vaccination of 18+ free of cost by the Centre.
He said former PM Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and the whole opposition in raised their protest against the wrong policies of the Centre and demanded free universal vaccination.
The Congress party had launched a #Speak up for free universal vaccination campaign.
Many states including Rajasthan had to approach the Supreme court on the issue.
The result of such a concerted campaign was that Modi had to reverse his wrong decision, claimed Gehlot.
He said no state government had made any provision in the budget for vaccination of 18+ and no suggestion made to the Centre to such an effect.