Mamata, Pawar, Sonia & Others Urge Centre To Launch Free Mass Vaccination Drive

New Delhi: A group of senior leaders from 13 Opposition parties wrote to the Centre on Sunday, urging it to launch a free mass vaccination drive across India keeping in mind the tsunami of COVID-19 cases over the past few weeks.

Among the signatories of the joint statement were West Bengal assembly election-winning Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, JDS leader and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena chief & Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray.

“In times of the uncontrollable surge of the pandemic across our country, we call upon the Central government to focus all attention in ensuring the uninterrupted flow of Oxygen supplies to all hospitals and health centres across the country. We call upon the Central government to immediately launch a free mass vaccination programme across the country,” they said in the statement.

The Opposition leaders said the budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for the vaccination programme must be utilized for vaccination of the 18 to 45 years age group.

The other leaders who signed the statement are JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, DMK chief MK Stalin, BSP supremo Mayawati, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, D Raja (CPI) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M).