A Jharkhand Congress delegation, led by the state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon, submitted a memorandum addressed to the President of India to governor Draupadi Murmu on Friday, seeking his intervention to ensure free vaccination for all in the state.

The party, which is a part of the ruling coalition government in Jharkhand, criticised the Narendra Modi government for its differential pricing mechanism for vaccines and alleged that it was indirectly allowing black-marketing.

Oraon, who was accompanied by his cabinet colleague Alamgir Alam (rural development) and other party workers, later said, “We demand free vaccination for everyone. To counter the challenges posed by the global pandemic, vaccination is the only way forward before us now. And the process has to be fast to safeguard our countrymen amid fears of the third wave later this year.”

According to Oraon, India needs to vaccinate at least one crore people daily to be able to cover the entire population by year-end. “Even though Union ministers have been claiming that they will vaccinate everyone by the end of this year, the action on the ground is contradictory. The situation is such that state after state is complaining about vaccine shortage, specially for those in the age group of 18 plus,” added Alamgir.

Citing the differential pricing mechanism of vaccines, Oraon maintained it was a "recipe for encouraging black-marketing".

“The Centre talks about one nation, one tax. But why is there different pricing for vaccination? States are forced to procure vaccines at double the rates at which the Centre is getting. Why? When the 45-plus and the elderly are given free vaccines, why are states asked to pay for thos above 18? For the first time since Independence, we are seeing the Union government asking states to buy its own vaccines. The Modi government is clearly without any holistic vaccine policy plan and is now running away from its responsibility,” he said.

The Congress, he added, was, therefore, appealing to the President of India to intervene in the interest of the country and its people to ensure “universalisation of free vaccines.”