Instead of PR events like 'Tika Utsav', ensure free Covid19 vaccination to everyone: Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru, Apr 25: Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of having created a 'barrier' by increasing the prices of COVID-19 vaccines, the Congress in Karnataka on Sunday demanded that free vaccination be provided to all citizens.
The principal opposition party also questioned the Yediyurappa government for not announcing vaccines free of cost yet for all.
"Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated, BJP govt at centre has created a barrier by increasing the prices of vaccines.
(PM) Narendra Modi, instead of PR events like 'Tika Utsav', ensure free Covid19 vaccination to everyone," leader of opposition in Karnataka assembly and Congress leader Siddaramaiah tweeted.
State Congress President D K Shivakumar said India is probably the only country which is discussing vaccine prices, when it's being given for free across the world.
"Why has Karnataka govt still not announced FREE VACCINATION for all? I demand that free vaccines be given to all citizens & a roll-out plan be shared asap," he tweeted.
According to sources, the Karnataka government is likely to decide on vaccinating people of state, free of cost.
The state government on Thursday decided to purchase 1 crore doses of Covishield vaccine at a cost of Rs 400crore, in the first phase.
The central government had recently announced that the vaccination for those above 18 years will begin across the country from May 1 as part of the third phase of the inoculation drive.
With government giving manufacturers and importers pricing freedom, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is the manufacturer of Covishield vaccine said vaccines will be priced at Rs 400 per dose for state governments and Rs 600 for private hospitals.
Hyderabad-based vaccine major Bharat Biotech said it would provide its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, to state governments at Rs 600 per dosage and to private hospitals at Rs 1,200.
In a series of tweets Siddaramaiah also hit out at state BJP leaders for celebrating the 5kg free rice scheme announced by PM Modi, but the same leaders made all attempts to end Anna Bhagya scheme introduced by the Congress government led by him, which provided 7kgs of free rice.
"This is an example for Karnataka BJP's sickness," he said.
The Centre on Friday had decided to resume providing free food grains to 80 crore poor beneficiaries in May and June to help them tide over the economic hardship in the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, a move that would cost the exchequer around Rs 26,000 crore.
Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated, @BJP4India govt has created a barrier by increasing the prices of vaccines.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
Mr. @narendramodi,
Instead of PR events like 'Tika Utsav', ensure free #Covid19 vaccination to everyone.#Corona2ndWave#vaccine
1/6
.@BJP4Karnataka leaders are celebrating the 5kg free rice scheme announced by @narendramodi but the same leaders made all attempts to end #AnnaBhagya scheme which provided 7kgs of free rice.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
This is an example for @BJP4Karnataka's sickness.#AnnaBhagya#Corona2ndWave
2/6
I have always been suggesting the govt to provide 10 kgs of free rice to all distressed people till the pandemic is over @PMOIndia should immediately consider this suggestion & ensure everyone gets 10 kgs of free rice.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
3/6#Corona2ndWave#AnnaBhagya
.@BJP4Karnataka govt is giving 2kgs of rice instead of 5kgs in many districts under Anna Bhagya. This is their desperate attempt to end the scheme.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
Mr. @CMofKarnataka,
End this injustice immediately so that poor people don't curse you.#AnnaBhagya#Corona2ndWave
4/6
Our govt had launched
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
Anna Bhagya,
Ksheera Bhagya,
Indira Canteen,
Matrupoorna & other schemes to make Karnataka a hunger free State.
Anti-poor @BJP4Karnataka govt is on a mission to end all these schemes.
5/6#AnnaBhagya
Where are the 25 MPs from @BJP4Karnataka hiding during this time of crisis?
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) April 25, 2021
These MPs should sit in front of @PMOIndia @narendramodi's house & demand the necessary facilities required to tackle the pandemic.
6/6#Covid2ndwave
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
