Corporators accused of running Private token system for vaccine drive
PUNE Even as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has increased the numbers of vaccination centres in the city, citizens and activists, allege that the entire vaccination process is being hijacked by corporators.
Corporators, and their followers, are being accused of setting up a token system for those wanting to get jabs, especially for the second dose.
The PMC has a total of 116 vaccination centres across the city. However, five wards have only one vaccination centre each, while all of the remaining wards have at least two centres each.
Of these 116 centres, five are reserved for vaccination of those in the of 18-to-44 year age group.
Corporators have provided basic support, such as chairs, covered waiting spaces, water and other necessary backup aid.
Bhapu Kamble, a resident of Vimannagar said, “My wife and I took the first dose of Covishield on March 23. I got a message for the second dose due on April 20. I was trying to book an appointment and it did not happen. At the Viman nagar centre volunteers asked me to come at 7am for a token. I went continuously for three days to get a token, but did not get it. Finally, my son approached the local corporator’s office. He arranged for the vaccination without a token.”Citizens allege that tokens also go to party workers who bypass the queues.
Mulrlidhar Mohol, mayor, said, “There is a lot of pressure on the PMC health staff. They have to take care of swab collection centres, crematoria management, and ambulance services. There is a lack of manpower to provide these facilities. Corporators are helping medical staff manage the crowds by distributing tokens. They also take care of senior citizens with seating, water and snacks.”
Mohol added: “I appealed to all to avoid any irregularities with the vaccinations and to help PMC increase its vaccination numbers.”
Haribhau Joshi, a resident of Kothrud said, “When I could not get an appointment for my second shot, one of my neighbours told me to approach my local corporator. I called the office, and he fixed my appointment without a token.”
Suryakant Devkar, PMC’s assistant medical officer said, “Central government provides vaccines for 45+ and above and the state is getting vials for the age group of 18 to 44. Additional municipal commissioner Rubal Agrawal takes the decision on how to distribute these to each centre. Normally, we distribute 100 doses to each centre. We hand it over to the ward medical officer.”
Another medical officer, requesting anonymity, said after the mistreatment of two senior medical officials by public representatives, the morale of the staff is down. “We are feeling insecure and we don’t confront corporators or political parties. We just do our job of vaccinating people. We don’t bother who sends or recommends them. If we question them, they put pressure and mistreat us. ”
Dr Abhijit Vaidya, founder and national president of the Arogya Sena said, “The rate of vaccination in the country is three per cent. Corporators are interfering. How can people take political advantage in this pandemic situation?”
Prashant Jagtap, city president of the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) and corporator of Wanowrie, said, “Vaccination is controlled by the mayor, standing committee chairman and leader of the house in the PMC. They decide the slots. They are unevenly distributing vaccines.”
Source – Hindustan Times