New Delhi, May 12
Twelve opposition party leaders, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, TMC president Mamata Banerjee and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding immediate commencement of a free, universal mass Covid vaccination campaign across the country.
In the letter, the leaders said the Covid-19 pandemic had assumed unprecedented dimensions of a human catastrophe.
“We have repeatedly in the past drawn your attention, independently and jointly, to the various measures that are absolutely imperative for the Central government to undertake and implement. Unfortunately, your government has either ignored or refused all these suggestions. This only compounded the situation to reach such an apocalyptic human tragedy. Without going into all the acts of commission and omission by the Central government that have brought the country to such a tragic pass,” they said.
The leaders urged the PM to procure vaccines centrally from all available sources – global and domestic; immediately begin a free, universal mass vaccination campaign across the country; invoke compulsory licensing to expand domestic vaccine production; spend budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for the vaccines and stop Central Vista construction and use the allocated money for procuring oxygen and vaccines instead.
The leaders also asked for release of all money “held in the unaccounted private trust fund PM Cares to buy more vaccines, oxygen and medical equipment required and give all jobless at least Rs 6000 per month besides free distribution of foodgrains to the needy”.
The opposition leaders further called for repeal of farm laws to protect farmers from becoming victims of the pandemic so that they can continue to produce food to feed the Indian people.
The leaders also sought a response from the PM.
The letter was signed also by former PM HD Deve Gowda (JD-S); Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena; Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin of the DMK; Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren of the JMM; Farooq Abdullah of JK NC; Akhilesh Yadav of SP; Tejashwi Yadav of RJD; D Raja of CPI and Sitaram Yechury of CPM.
