Oct 26,2020: All citizens of India will get free Covid-19 vaccine, Union Minister Pratap Sarangi has said.
Union Minister Pratap Sarangi on Sunday said all people of the country will be given free coronavirus vaccine, amidst the demand by the Opposition for a free vaccine for all and not only in poll-bound Bihar as announced by the BJP, news agency PTI reported.
After addressing a campaign meeting for the November 3 assembly by-poll in Balasore, Union Minister Pratap Sarangi said an estimated Rs 500 odd will be spent on vaccination of each person. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that all people will be provided free of cost vaccines.
PM Modi, in a televised address to the nation on October 20, had said Indian scientists are in the process of developing several vaccines that are at different stages of clinical trials and the results seem encouraging.
Sarangi, the Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry, Dairy, Fisheries and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises made the remark in reply to question raised by Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister, R P Swain, the PTI report added.
The BJP announcement of free coronavirus vaccine for Bihar, where assembly polls begin this week, had kicked up a controversy with the opposition parties tearing into the NDA government alleging that the ruling party was using the pandemic for political reasons.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the announcement was in order as it was an election manifesto announcement.
The governments of Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Puduchchery have already announced free of cost Covid vaccines for the people of their states, while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded free vaccine for all citizens across the country.
