Mangaluru : Former MLC Ivan D’Souza said the government’s promise of offering free anti-coronavirus vaccines to all is a blatant lie.

He said vaccines are being sold in private hospitals while people are made to wait to get their turn at government hospitals.

Urging the government to provide vaccines free of cost even in private hospitals, D’Souza said that the quantity of vaccine doses should be increased.

“The BJP is erecting hoardings announcing free vaccines for all. However, people are forced to pay nearly Rs 1,000 to get vaccine doses from private hospitals. We will launch a protest if the government does not provide free vaccines to all in the district,” warned D’Souza.

The Supreme Court has already directed the government to give free vaccines to people. Though the government has earmarked Rs 35,000 crore for vaccination drives, sale of vaccines continues in private hospitals. Let the government bear the cost of vaccines in private hospitals too, he demanded.

He also questioned the logic of the government announcing a separate price list for vaccines in private hospitals.

The government has announced Rs 1 lakh as compensation to the kin of those who died due to Covid-19. However, the applications of many families for BPL ration cards have not been approved yet. The government should omit the BPL criteria while distributing compensation to the kin of Covid victims and the amount should be increased to Rs 5 lakh, D’Souza said and urged the government to consider vaccination of all parents so that the possibility of spread of virus among children in the third wave can be prevented.