Opposition: Give states freedom for contracts to acquire vaccines

Opposition events on Thursday requested the Centre to ban mass congregations of every kind and provides state governments the liberty to enter into contracts for procurement of vaccines.
While the Shiv Sena requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to right away arrange a “task force” to take care of the scenario that has “gone beyond control,” the RJD mentioned though shutdowns aren’t best, administrations should be prepared for a lockdown.
The Congress accused the federal government of mishandling the scenario.
The CPI(M) mentioned the Centre can not abstain from its accountability by blaming the individuals for not following the protocol, or shifting the blame to state governments.
Senior Congress chief Anand Sharma advised The Indian Express that state governments should instantly be allowed to enter into contracts for procurement of vaccines. “We are a federal country…health is a state issue. The epidemic is separate. But when it comes to healthcare, the Centre cannot control…the Centre is not constitutionally mandated to,” he mentioned.
Sharma additionally mentioned the scenario has been mismanaged because of over-centralisation.
Sena chief Sanjay Raut mentioned, “It is not about one state any longer. The PM must take his eyes off West Bengal, sit in Delhi and set up a task force. The situation is beyond control now. The PM should only focus on this…. Look at the situation in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi…many states had been hiding the information…”
Stating that lockdown is “not a solution”, Raut mentioned, “The people will not listen…. Look at Maharashtra…people are coming out, they are going for jobs…how can you stop them?”
Raut mentioned that the “only solution” is that the federal government ought to “function as a government”. He mentioned, “The entire government is in Bengal…I am not talking about one party – it is for all…it is not just for the BJP…. Look at how cases have risen in states where elections are being held…where the Kumbh is being held.”
Senior Congress chief Abhishek Singhvi mentioned: “It is time the Prime Minister and the Home Minister concentrated less on politics and electioneering and tackled Covid on a war footing. They have to make rules absolutely uniform, stringent and non-negotiable. For example, all super-spreader activities, irrespective of religious colour, ideological origin, political dispensation or geographical or regional affiliation, have to be simply banned.”
Senior RJD chief Manoj Kumar Jha mentioned capacities of hospitals and well being centres have to be expanded quickly and all bureaucratic delays should be averted. “Even now, a lot of crowded events are being held across the country — they should be stopped immediately,” Jha mentioned. “It will send out a strong, positive message among the people.”

The RJD chief mentioned, “I agree lockdowns are not ideal, but I mean it quite seriously when I say that the administration must be ready for it. We need to use whatever little time we have to prepare for it.”
The CPI(M) mentioned, “The Central government must immediately ban mass congregations of all hues; strictly regulate implementation of protocol in election meetings; organize special trains for free passage of all migrant workers to their homes; release extra resources and all funds collected in PM Cares to augment health facilities; and intensify mass vaccination on an urgent basis.”
Congress’s Sharma additionally alleged that the Centre was conscious of the existence of double mutants as early as the center of March however had suppressed the knowledge. He demanded an impartial probe to search out out the reality.
He mentioned: “Whether the government has released (on time) in public domain the information on double mutants or withheld it…. My allegation is that they had withheld it for over three weeks. Why? India was aware of Indian mutants. Different laboratories had traced it. What has been officially stated yesterday was known since the middle of March. We want a correct answer. Three labs had detected these…every report was stopped on the government’s diktat on the Health Secretary’s desk. Let there be an independent inquiry.”
The existence of particular Indian strains probably carrying double mutation has been in public dialogue not less than for the reason that center of February, shortly after some districts in Mahashtra’s Vidarbha area began displaying an increase in an infection numbers, main as much as the start of the second wave within the state.

Health officers in Maharashtra, as properly Rakesh Mishra, director of the Hyderabad-based CCMB, one of many prime laboratories engaged in genome sequencing, had mentioned that some samples collected from Amravati, Yavatmal and neighbouring districts had proven these new and “emerging” strains of virus, which had two noticeable mutations.
These findings from comparatively restricted variety of samples resulted in additional genome sequencing from virus samples from these, and different areas, of Maharashtra.