Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a sharp swipe at the Prime Minister and questioning if the export of Covid-19 vaccines was right as the country faces shortage, putting the lives of Indians in danger.
He said vaccine shortage is a very serious problem and the pandemic and is not a celebration, reffering to Modi's announcement of 'Tika Utsav' on Thursday. Calling the government's decision on export a publicity stunt, Rahul asked if it too was an 'oversight'
"Was the export of vaccines also an 'oversight' like many other decisions of the government, or an effort to garner publicity?"
Gandhi also called upon the central government to help states without any bias and help provide them with more vaccines.
"Shortage of vaccine in view of the rise in Corona cases is a very serious problem and not a celebration," he said in a tweet in Hindi.
"Is it right to export the vaccine and put Indians at risk. The central government should help all states without any bias. We all have to fight this pandemic together and defeat it," he added.
Some states have been demanding more vaccines and the Congress is seeking the vaccine for all.
The Centre, however, has accused some states of doing politics on the issue of vaccines.
In his letter to the PM, Rahul offered suggestions including immediate moratorium on export, providing vaccine manufacturers with resources to produce more vaccines and offering support to the vulnerable affected by the second wave of the virus.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that 9.1 crore vaccine doses have been utilised, while 2.4 crore are in stock and 1.9 crore vaccines are in the pipeline, indicating there are sufficient doses available for all states.
He also dismissed as "farce" the "hue and cry" by certain states about partisanship by the Centre and called it an attempt to hide their own incompetence, referring to the case of Maharashtra which had alarm bells ringing across the country after its Health Minister said they had vaccines to last only 3 days as it faces acute shortage .
(With PTI inputs)