Updated: December 4, 2020 12:11:12 pm
Earlier, PM Modi chaired a high level meeting with Chief Ministers of the states in which he underlined the important role of the states on vaccine administration and distribution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a virtual meeting with leaders of all political parties on the Covid-19 situation, the vaccine challenges and the way forward.
This comes days after the prime minister reviewed the vaccine preparations at vaccine manufacturing facilities in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune. On Monday, he had also held a virtual meeting with three more pharmaceutical companies whose vaccine candidates for Covid-19 are currently in clinical trials.
About 12 leaders from key political parties having five or more than five MPs, will be speaking at the meeting, the sources told PTI. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad will speak on behalf of the Congress while Sudip Bandyopadhyay will represent TMC, Sharad Pawar NCP, Nama Nageswara Rao TRS and Vinayak Raut will represent Shiv Sena.
Opposition leaders are also likely to question the government regarding the expected availability of the COVID-19 vaccine and plans for its distribution, the sources told PTI. Before the meeting, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he hopes that the prime minister will clarify when will every Indian get free COVID-19 vaccine. “In today’s all-party meeting, we hope the PM clarifies by when will every Indian get free Covid vaccine,” he tweeted.
In today’s all-party meeting, we hope the PM clarifies by when will every Indian get free Covid vaccine.
हमें आशा है कि आज सर्वदलीय बैठक में PM ये स्पष्ट करेंगे कि हर भारतीय को मुफ़्त कोरोना वैक्सीन कब तक दी जाएगी।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 4, 2020
This will be the second all-party meeting called by the government since the outbreak of the pandemic to discuss the COVID-19 situation.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan are present in the meeting. Parliamentary Affairs Ministers Pralhad Joshi and ministers of state in the same ministry Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan, who reached out to floor leaders for the meeting, will also take part in the discussion.
Earlier, PM Modi chaired a high level meeting with Chief Ministers of the states in which he underlined the important role of the states on vaccine administration and distribution. In the November 24 meeting, he had directed the states to provide their plans to build a final blue print on the immunisation drive and asked them to build decentralised mechanisms till block level in the form of task force to ensure the smooth rollout of vaccine.
The centre is presently conducting an extensive backend preparation for the Covid-19 immunisation drive. It expects to receive and utilise 400-500 million doses and cover approximately 20-25 crore people by July 21.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: indianexpress.com
