Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday appealed to the people to turn the ongoing vaccination drive into a “jan andolan (mass movement)” by donating voluntarily to either the chief minister’s relief fund or the Assam Arogya Nidhi to buy vaccines.
Sarma said he is seeking donations from the public not because the state is facing a financial crunch but because he wants to involve the public in the ongoing fight against the pandemic.
“We will do what is required of us. But we also want people to feel the joy of saving a life by donating for vaccination. For example, we can donate on our birthday or to our family members. I appeal to the people to donate freely and turn this vaccination drive into a jan andolan. Donation can be for one person or more. We want the people of the state to feel the joy of saving a life,” Sarma said on the eve of the first Assembly session under his chief ministership from Friday.
He also announced that the donation amount received by the Assam Arogya Nidhi in the first Covid-19 wave — Rs 119 crore — will also be used to buy vaccines. “Today, I have released Rs 50 crore from the CM Relief Fund to the Arogya Nidhi to buy vaccines. We have also received donations from Reliance Industries, from school, college and universities towards buying vaccines,” he said.
Newly appointed health minister Keshab Mahanta reiterated Sarma’s appeal for donation on Friday.
The Covid situation has turned alarming in the second wave with the state government imposing near-lockdown safety measures and banning inter-district travel from Friday. Curfew was extended last week from noon to 5am.
Soaring Covid-19 cases and deaths have increased the need for an expedited vaccination drive.
Till Thursday, Assam registered fresh 6,573 Covid-19 cases taking the active caseload to 51,819, while 74 succumbed to the virus. The positivity rate, however, has dropped to 6.40 per cent.
According to Sarma, the cost of vaccinating those aged 45 years and above (above 1 crore) will be borne by the central government, while the state government will bear the cost of inoculating those aged between 18 and 44 years (over 1.2 crore). Assam’s population is about 3.2 crore.
“We will need Rs 600-800 crore to vaccinate 1 crore people. We will need Rs 600-Rs 800 to vaccinate one person. We will continue to vaccinate the masses whether we get donations or not. Our aim is to turn the drive into a jan andolan. We want it to be a collective fight. Everything has to be voluntary,” Sarma said, adding his government does not want to burden the Covid-hit people by raising taxes to fight the pandemic.
Admitting there is a shortage of vaccines and things will normalise by June-July, the chief minister said it will take at least 10 to 12 months to inoculate the entire state population.
“So far we have vaccinated 35 lakh people. There were no takers in March and April but there is a rush now. The government is planning to expedite the process by vaccinating 1 lakh people a day,” he said.
Sarma also appealed to Ulfa (Independent) to release the abducted ONGC employee R. Saikia, to which the outfit’s chief Paresh Barua has responded positively.
Saikia, sources said, could be released any moment.
