Centre seeks report from West Bengal govt on dubious Covid vaccination camps

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to Hari Krishna Dwivedi, Chief Secretary of West Bengal, seeking a factual report on the matter

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday asked West Bengal to submit a report within 48 hours on the “fake vaccination camp” in which a fraudster had conducted camps in Kolkata and its suburbs but did not issue any Co-WIN certificate, which is mandatory for everyone who received the shot.

The ministry acted on the basis of a letter from Suvendu Adhikari, BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, who asked Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to investigate the fake vaccination racket, alleging involvement of Trinamool Congress leaders in the scam.

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Bhushan asked the Bengal Chief Secretary to urgently investigate the charges levelled by Adhikari and take action. In addition, he sought a report in two days.

Flagging the involvement of the conman Debanjan Deb, the BJP leader in his letter wrote, “Were these shots (administered at the fake vaccination camps) really Covishield vaccines as being claimed by the accused? lf so, then this raises a big question on pilferage of Covid vaccines from the government stock and this cannot happen without complicity of top civic authorities.”

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“If these were not Covid vaccines, then immediate investigation needs to be done as to what was being administered at such a large scale?”wrote Adhikari who defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the recently concluded assembly elections and considered a bete noire to Banerjee after he switched side to join the saffron camp.

West Bengal and central government are at loggerheads on several issues since the assembly polls in which TMC handsomely defeated BJP.