Union Minister Pratap Sarangi said on Sunday that all people in the country will receive the COVID vaccine for free, amid demand from opposition parties in the country and not only in Bihar, as announced by the BJP. The BJP’s announcement of the free COVID vaccine for Bihar, where assembly polls begin this week, had sparked a controversy with opposition parties that stormed the NDA government claiming that the ruling party was using the pandemic for reasons policies.
The Union’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, had said that the announcement was in order, as it was an announcement of an electoral manifesto. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that everyone will receive free vaccinations. An estimated 500 rupees will be spent on vaccinating each person, Sarangi told reporters after addressing a campaign meeting for the November 3 assembly vote in Balasore.
Modi said in a televised address to the nation on Oct. 20 that Indian scientists are in the process of developing various vaccines that are in different stages of clinical trials and the results seem encouraging. Sarangi, the trade union state minister for livestock, dairy, fisheries and micro, small and medium enterprises, spoke in response to the question posed by Odisha’s Minister of Consumer Welfare and Food Supplies, RP Swain.
Swain had requested clarification earlier in the day from Dharmendra Pradhan and Sarangi, the two union ministers from Odisha questioning them for their silence on their BJP party’s position on free vaccination against COVID-19 for the people of the state on the line of the fiancee. in Bihar. The governments of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Puduchchery have already announced free COVID vaccines for the inhabitants of their states, while Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded a free vaccine for all citizens of the country.
Swain had tweeted: “I am asking two union ministers from Odisha from Balasore soil to clarify why the people of the state will not get the free COVID vaccine. Union ministers should clarify that BJPs defend corona vaccination in Odisha.
On the state government’s steps for vaccination, Swain said he has signed an agreement with a vaccine manufacturer and is committed to extending the facility to all people in the state. However, he did not say whether the state government will provide the vaccine to people for free.
The BJP’s deputy leader in the Odisha Assembly, Bishnu Charan Sethi, said that the Center has been supporting Odisha fully during the pandemic and has awarded Rs 22 billion for this purpose. “But large-scale failures in the use of the fund have been detected,” he claimed.
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