“PM CARES only for vanity”: Kharge attacks BJP for “not vaccinating” children under Mission Indradhanush

New Delhi [India], July 17 (ANI): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre for its alleged failure to carry out vaccinations under the ‘Mission Indradhanush’ program and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying “PM CARES only for vanity.”

Terming it a “cardinal sin,” the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha claimed that 16 lakh children were not provided key vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) and measles shots in 2023.

He further alleged that around half of the applications for assistance to children who became orphans during the COVID pandemic were rejected by the PM CARES Fund, “without providing any reasons.”

Mission Indradhanush is a flagship routine immunization campaign led by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The scheme launched in 2014 plays a pivotal role in ensuring that routine immunization services reach children and pregnant women who might have previously missed or dropped out of the vaccination programs.

In a post on X, Kharge said that the central government is ‘wasting’ India’s strong foundation in immunisation laid by the Congress party.

“Modi Govt has committed a cardinal sin by not vaccinating lakhs of children. Neglect of immunisation means loss of precious lives. The gains of India’s strong foundation in immunisation laid by the Congress party have been shamelessly wasted by the Modi Govt, as 16 lakh children have not been provided the key vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) and measles shots in 2023, eroding the advantages made in 2022,” the Congress leader posted on X.

“Not only this, the rank apathy and flagrant disdain for COVID orphan children exposed by media reports shows, nearly 50% of applications for assistance to such children were rejected by #PMCARES Fund, without providing any reasons! @narendramodi ji, how will we ensure ‘Viksit Bharat’ if our children aren’t taken care of? In reality PM CARES only for vanity!” he added.

India’s immunization programme, launched in 1985, is one of the largest health programmes of its kind in the world, catering to a birth cohort of 2.7 crore (27 million) children annually.

Mission Indradhanush (MI) was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on December 25, 2014. The scheme aims to cover all those children who are either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases.

India’s Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) provides free vaccines against 12 life-threatening diseases to 26 million children annually.

The Universal Immunization Programme provides life-saving vaccines to all children across the country free of cost to protect them against Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Hepatitis B, Pneumonia, and Meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Measles, Rubella, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Rotavirus diarrhoea. (Rubella, JE and Rotavirus vaccine in select states and districts), according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.