Vaccination has to be universal: Former RBI Governor

Former RBI Governor C Rangarajan on Thursday said that the centre cannot shirk its responsibility for vaccinating all the people in the country to control the COVID-19 pandemic. He was speaking at the inaugural session of a virtual conference organized by the ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education.

He added that the centre must take up universal vaccination even if it involves a lot of expenditure while the states need to spend on other medical infrastructure. "Vaccination is important. It has to be universal," he reiterated.

"Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government and I would say the central government to take on itself the expenditure which are to be incurred in terms of vaccinating the people," the former Chairman of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council said.

He also added that since vaccination is the centre's responsibility, the question of different pricing would not rise. Currently, three different prices are fixed for the centre, the state and private parties.

"I am saying the vaccination is the responsibility of the central government. The Central government should bear all the cost. Let them negotiate and let them get a price and distribute it," he explained. He further added that both the centre and state governments need to increase their expenditure to revive the slumped economy.