Sonia Gandhi held a Covid meet for Congress-ruled states today, day after Rahul Gandhi's letter to PM
Congress's interim chief Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting today with Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states to take stock of the COVID-19 situation and preparedness as the country witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases.
Senior party leader Rahul Gandhi was also attending the meet.
During the meeting Mrs Gandhi said the priority should be to "test, track and vaccinate."
She also said "There must be transparency - Governments must reveal the actual numbers of infections and deaths across states, whether Congress ruled or otherwise."
She went on to say that "We must focus on India's vaccination drive first and foremost, then only export vaccines and gift them to other countries. We must stress on responsible behaviour - adhering to all laws and Covid regulations without exception."
Mrs Gandhi's remark on export of vaccines comes a day after Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Prime Minister urging him to focus on domestic vaccine needs.
Slamming the Centre for its vaccine management, Mrs Gandhi claimed, "The Modi government has mismanaged the situation - exported vaccine and allowed a shortage to be created in India."
Speaking about the campaigning for ongoing Assembly elections, she said, "Mass gatherings for elections and religious events have accelerated Covid for which all of us are responsible to some extent. We need to accept this responsibility and keep the interest of the nation above our own."
Several states including Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, UP, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar are facing vaccine shortages.
Sonia Gandhi reviewed the efforts taken in Congress-ruled states to fight COVID-19, including the availability of vaccines, access to medicines and ventilators, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. "The priority is to test, track and vaccinate," he wrote on Twitter, quoting Mrs Gandhi.
Mr Surjewala further said that Rahul Gandhi too "expressed deep concern over the second wave of COVID-19 hitting the country."
He also said that Mr Gandhi "points out that virus attacks the poorest & disadvantaged the hardest."
The meeting came a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to place an immediate moratorium on the export of vaccines, fast track approval of other vaccines and open up vaccination to everyone who needs it.
Criticising the Prime Minister, Mr Gandhi had asked whether the export of vaccines was an effort to garner "publicity".
Referring to the PM's appeal to the Chief Ministers to organise a vaccine festival from April 11 to 14, he tweeted that shortage of vaccines amid the rise in COVID-19 cases is a very serious issue.
"India had the first-mover advantage in vaccination and yet we are moving at a snail's pace. Historically, India has achieved abundant experience in designing and executing some of the world''s biggest vaccination programmes. Yet in the present case, we have managed to fully vaccinate less than 1% of the population in 3 months..." the letter claimed.
"While our nation is facing vaccine starvation, more than 6 crore doses of vaccines have been exported... Was the export of vaccines also an ''oversight'', like many other decisions of this government, or an effort to garner publicity at the cost of our citizens?"
"Double central allocation for vaccine procurement from the existing Rs 35,000 crore. Give State governments a greater say in vaccine procurement and distribution. Provide direct income support to the vulnerable sections in the disastrous second wave," Rahul Gandhi claimed in his letter.
Rahul Gandhi further alleged that it is unfortunate that India is under a renewed attack of the COVID-19 virus, "considering our scientific community and vaccine suppliers worked overtime to develop a solution but their efforts are undermined by the Centre's poor implementation and "oversight"."
He noted that India has achieved abundant experience in designing and executing some of the world's biggest vaccination programs. "Yet in the present case, we have managed to fully vaccinate less than 1 per cent of the population in 3 months," he wrote.
He said that at India's current vaccination rate, it would take years to inoculate 75 per cent of the population, and it will have catastrophic effects and will gravely decelerate India's economy.
Rahul Gandhi added that the "Centralisation and individualised propaganda" are counter-productive.
"Even though Public Health is a state subject, our states have been bypassed right from vaccine procurement to registration. Additionally, a large section of the poor has been excluded due to the initial mandatory online registration," he added.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)