Covid vaccine should be free for every Indian citizen, says Kejriwal at flyovers’ inauguration | Latest News Delhi - Hindustan Times
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Covid vaccine should be free for every Indian citizen, says Kejriwal at flyovers’ inauguration

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByHT Correspondent, New Delhi
Oct 24, 2020 11:34 PM IST

Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated both flyovers and said it will cut travel time from Shahdara in east Delhi and the UP border to Kashmere Gate ISBT by at least 10 minutes as the stretch is now a signal-free corridor.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said Saturday that citizens across the country should be given the Covid-19 vaccine for free, as it is right of every citizen to get them. His comments came two days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promised free Covid-19 vaccine to the people of Bihar, in its election manifesto for the state assembly elections, which will be held in three phases starting October 28 and the results declared on November 10.

Arvind Kejriwal said Saturday that citizens across the country should be given the Covid-19 vaccine for fre(HT Photo)
Arvind Kejriwal said Saturday that citizens across the country should be given the Covid-19 vaccine for fre(HT Photo)

The BJP’s poll promise had kicked up a storm, with opposing political parties accusing the BJP of seeking to make “political gains” from a pandemic and health experts cautioning that “politics should not be linked with immunisation”.

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On Saturday, after inaugurating the two flyovers at Seelampur and Shastri Park, when asked by media persons about the BJP’s poll promise, Kejriwal said, “The whole country should get Covid-19 vaccines for free. It is the right of the entire country. All the people are troubled by the coronavirus. So, the vaccine should be free for the entire country.”

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while releasing her party’s 11-point manifesto in Patna on Thursday, had said that as soon as a Covid-19 vaccine is available, every person in Bihar would get it for free. “This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto,” she said.

The BJP later clarified that the vaccine would be delivered to all citizens and it was up to state government to decide whether to disburse it for free, after receiving it at a nominal cost from the Union government.

Free vaccine promises also found an echo in the United States presidential elections with Democrat party candidate Joe Biden Friday saying that if elected president, he would make Covid vaccine free for all Americans.

“Once we have a safe and effective vaccine, it has to be free to everyone -- whether or not you’re insured,” Biden said while laying out his pandemic response plan, just 11 days before the US presidential election.

President Donald Trump has also stressed that a vaccine -- which he claimed would be ready in the coming weeks -- should be free to all.

Opposition parties in India and public health experts have questioned the BJP’s poll promise and said politics should not be linked with immunisation. But on Thursday, Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami assured the people of his state that the vaccines would be given to them for free. Hours later, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also made a similar promise to his state citizens.

FLYOVERS OPENED

Meanwhile, the much-awaited flyovers at Seelampur and Shastri Park were thrown open to the public on Saturday bringing major relief to those living in east and north-east Delhi and also those who regularly commute through these areas from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad.

Kejriwal inaugurated both flyovers and said it will cut travel time from Shahdara in east Delhi and the UP border to Kashmere Gate ISBT by at least 10 minutes as the stretch is now a signal-free corridor. The Shastri Park flyover consists of six lanes and is 700 metres long, while the Seelampur flyover had two lanes and is 1,200 metres long. Together, they will ease the commute of around 1.5 lakh motorists, who travel daily via the Dharampura crossing towards Shahdara.

“The tender sanctioned for this project was 303 crore, but such is the honesty with of the Aam Adam Party (AAP) government that our engineers saved 53 crore. We have built these flyovers at a cost of 250 crore without compromising on construction quality. We do not indulge in bribes or take money from officials or engineers. It is with this money (of the people) that we save that we are able to provide free water, electricity, healthcare, medicines and quality education to our citizens,” Kejriwal said during the inauguration.

Public works department (PWD) minister Satyendar Jain took an indirect jibe at the BJP-ruled municipal corporations by comparing their infrastructure projects with the Delhi government’s.

“Today, two flyovers have been inaugurated by the CM that were completed by not just saving 53 crore but also in a record 11 months against the target of 18 months, excluding the nine months of construction ban under the Supreme Court mandated Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and the Covid-induced lockdown,” he said.

“At the same time, look at the Azad market flyover constructed by the MCD. It took the MCD 10 years to build the flyover which is shorter than the ones we are inaugurating today. And it cost them 700-800 crore. The CM has also envisioned a children’s park under the flyover, and very soon, that vision too will be transformed into reality,” Jain said.

Unveiling 'Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!
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