“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that all people will receive vaccines at no cost. It is estimated that 500 rupees will be spent on vaccinating each person, ”says the Union Minister of State Pratap Sarangi.
Union Minister Pratap Sarangi said on October 25 that all Indians will receive the COVID-19 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-19 vaccine for Bihar had sparked controversy with opposition parties breaking into the NDA government claiming that the ruling party was using the pandemic for political reasons.
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 all people will receive vaccines at no cost. It is estimated that Rs.500 will be spent on vaccinating each person, ”Mr. Sarangi told reporters after addressing a campaign meeting for the November 3 assembly in Balasore.
On October 20, Modi, in a televised address to the nation, said that Indian scientists are in the process of developing various vaccines that are in different stages of clinical trials and the results appear encouraging.
Mr Sarangi, Union Minister of State for Livestock, Dairy, Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, was responding to a question posed by the Minister of Consumer Welfare and Food Supply of Odisha, RP Swain.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Swain asked Dharmendra Pradhan and Mr. Sarangi, the two Odisha Union Ministers who questioned them for their silence on the BJP’s position on free COVID-19 vaccination for the people. of the State on the line of the promised one in Bihar.
The governments of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Puduchchery have already announced free COVID-19 vaccines in their states, while Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded a free vaccine for all citizens across the country.
Swain tweeted: “I am asking two union ministers from Odisha from Balasore soil to clarify why people in the state will not get the free COVID vaccine. The union ministers should clarify that the BJP defend the 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 facilities to everyone in the state. However, he did not say whether the state government will provide the vaccine to people for free.
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