Remarking that the Centre’s vaccination programme had foundered miserably, former Chief Minister and senior Congressman Prithviraj Chavan on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi ought to stop self-congratulation about breaking “vaccination records” and focus on expediting the pace.
Mr. Chavan said here that after more than 180 days of the rollout, just 32 crore people had taken one dose while barely 8.15 crore citizens across the country had taken both doses.
“With more variations in the virus being reported, unless the Centre quickens the pace of inoculation, the danger of fresh infections cannot be averted…in my constituency Karad South [in Satara], I have come across reports where people who have taken both doses are getting re-infected. At this glacial pace, only 15 crore of the populace will be vaccinated before the year is out,” he said.
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Mr. Chavan expressed concern that even if the rate of vaccination was doubled, just 25 crore people would be completely vaccinated by December 31.
“The Central government has completely mismanaged the vaccination programme and its effects are now showing on the economy. The full effects of the PM’s misguided ‘vaccine diplomacy’ are only apparent now,” he said.
He lashed out at the Centre for failing to control ratcheting fuel prices, alleging that relentlessly increasing the excise and customs’ duties on petrol and diesel was akin to looting the public.
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The price of petrol has risen 23% as compared with last year’s per litre price, while diesel and LPG have risen by 28% and 41% respectively. From January this year till now, petrol and diesel prices have increased no less than 66 times while in more than 250 towns, petrol prices have breached the ₹100 per litre mark…this is incredible,” Mr. Chavan said.
Appalling policy decisions
Remarking that the common man was being crushed by the Centre’s appalling policy decisions on fuel, he alleged that a misconception was being spread by the BJP-ruled Centre of its inability to do anything about the fuel price rise.
“The Centre claims there is nothing to be done as fuel is being imported from abroad. But this is false. Costs are rising only due to the Centre increasing excise and custom duties… in 2014, just as the Manmohan Singh-led UPA exited the stage and the BJP took over, the excise on petrol was ₹9.48 per litre. Today, it has risen to ₹32.90 — a 316% surge,” Mr. Chavan said.
Likewise, the excise of diesel had seen a staggering 840% rise in the past seven years, soaring form ₹3.80 per litre to ₹32.
“During the Modi government’s seven-year tenure, 23 crore families have been pushed into the BPL category as opposed to the Congress-led UPA’s tenure, during which we had raised 14 crore families above BPL through an array of welfare schemes,” he said.
Mr. Chavan said the economy had begun its downward spiral well before the depression induced by the pandemic had set in.
“In the last seven quarters, the economy has been slumping continuously. This started from the Centre’s ill-advised demonetisation move and the pandemic, coupled with more policy blundering, has only aggravated matters.”