For its fearless journalism in exposing the humongous amount of vaccine wastage in the Congress-ruled state of Rajasthan, Dainik Bhaskar is now being threatened by the government of Rajasthan. In a report dated May 31, Dainik Bhaskar had exposed the absolute sense of apathy towards vaccines in Rajasthan, where at least 500 vials containing no less than 2,500 doses were procured from the dustbins of vaccinations centres by reporters of the media outlet. Responding to the expose, Rajasthan health minister Dr Raghu Sharma had called the Dainik Bhaskar report false and completely deceptive in nature.
Taking to Twitter, Dr Raghu Sharma threatened Dainik Bhaskar with action for its report which exposed the Congress government’s ineptitude to deal with vaccine wastage in Rajasthan. Almost dismissing all actual figures relating to vaccine wastage in Rajasthan, the health minister claimed the vaccine wastage in the state was merely 2 per cent. He also said all vaccine vials, after usage, are stored at the vaccination centres themselves as per rules.
What he did not say was that they are stored for disposal in dustbins – a fact which Dainik Bhaskar had to uncover – for which they are now being threatened by the Congress government. Mounting an attack on the journalists involved in covering the story, Dr Raghu Sharma said, “The reporters associated with this (Dainik Bhaskar) report wrongfully impersonated senior officials of the Rajasthan Health Department and representatives from WHO, thereby forcing and pressuring concerned authorities to provide them with the vials. These vials were not found from any dustbin.”
इस खबर के लिए संबंधित पत्रकारों ने स्वयं को गलत तरीके से स्वास्थ्य विभाग, राजस्थान का उच्चाधिकारी एवं WHO का प्रतिनिधि बताया एवं संबंधित कर्मचारियों पर दबाव डालकर उनसे इन वाइल्स को प्राप्त किया। यह वाइल्स किसी डस्टबिन में नहीं मिली हैं। (2/5)
— Dr. Raghu Sharma (@RaghusharmaINC) May 31, 2021
“For reporting such false information and impersonating senior government officials, concerned journalists will be subjected to action,” the Congress leader added. Dainik Bhaskar has subsequently challenged the Rajasthan government to institute an enquiry on the said vials and for the truth to be uncovered and made public. While also providing its office address, Dainik Bhaskar challenged the Congress government to take custody of the vials currently in their occupancy.
According to reports, Rajasthan is comfortably leading the vaccine wastage race with a total of 11.5 lakh which amounts to 7 per cent vaccine doses that have been wasted in the Congress-ruled state. The numbers coming in from Rajasthan’s districts are startling, to say the least, with the district of Churu reporting the highest loss of vaccine at 39.7 per cent. Churu is followed by Hanumagarh with 24.60 per cent, Bharatpur at 17.13 per cent and Kota at 16.71 per cent vaccine wastage.
Recently, an appalling development had come to light from Rajasthan, where life-support ventilators belonging to the PM Cares Fund pool were being leased out by government hospitals to private institutes for exorbitant rates – the burden of which unsuspecting patients are having to incur. Overall, the state of affairs in Rajasthan are appalling, to say the least.