Bhubaneswar: With cases of Covid-19 rising across Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Ministers of all other Indian states seeking a consensus on procurement of Covid vaccines.
“The best option available is for the Government of India to centrally procure the vaccines and distribute it among the States so that our citizens are vaccinated at the earliest,” Patnaik wrote in the letter to other state counterparts.
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“At the same time, the execution of the vaccination programme has to be decentralised and States allowed the flexibility to determine their own mechanisms to ensure universal vaccination. For example, many hilly areas cannot access the internet and therefore online registration has to be flexible, some vulnerable tribes can be given priority by the State,” Naveen further opined.
“We have written to the Union Government in this regard. However, I would respectfully suggest that all the State Governments should come to a consensus on this issue for early resolution of this problem. We should act fast before any third wave comes and creates further havoc. I had spoken to some of our esteemed Chief Ministers and they also share this view,” Patnaik stated in his letter.
Patnaik expected other Chief Ministers to come together in the true spirit of cooperative federalism for saving precious lives and hard earned livelihoods, saying that he looks forward to a productive way to pull the country out of this unprecedented crisis. The states, as a team, owe it to their respective citizens, he added.
PNN