Akhilesh Yadav raises concerns over COVID vaccine distribution to poor people

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Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who had dubbed the country's anti-Covid vaccine as the "BJP's one" before its rollout and had vowed not to take its shot, on Tuesday asked when would the poor be inoculated.

"When would the coronavirus vaccine be provided to the poor? The government also needs to tell whether it would be free of cost or they will have to pay for it," the SP chief posed the query on a day when the first consignment of the vaccine landed in Lucknow.

Yadav's January 2 remark had prompted a sharp reaction not only from the ruling party but also from NC vice-president Omar Abdullah who had said vaccines don't belong to any political party, but humanity.

On a day when the Supreme Court set up a four-member panel to resolve farmers grievances against the three central farm laws, the SP chief reiterated his party's support to farmers, saying that everybody is facing problems because of the new farm laws.

"The Samajwadi Party supports farmers agitation against the farm laws," the SP president said while speaking at a function at Sri Ram PG College at Adampur.

He also accused the state government of doing nothing to ferry the migrant workers returning to Uttar Pradesh from various states amid the Covid lockdown.

"The migrants started from places like Gujarat and Maharashtra on bicycles and foot but the government did nothing for them. There were 90,000 buses. Had they been deployed, people would not have died on roads," he said.

On the charge of his government often appointing officials of his caste on key posts in police and district administration, Mr Yadav said: "My government was termed a casteist government, but you can yourself see now, who is sitting on which government position and decide."