West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who attended a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on handling of coronavirus, said others were not given a chance to speak and that she felt humiliated.
PM Modi held a a virtual meeting on Thursday, 20 May, with district magistrates from 11 states, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Odisha, Rajasthan, Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
He urged district officials to collect data on children and young people being infected with COVID-19 in the second wave.
"Concerns have been raised for young people and children due to the mutation of the virus. I request you to collect data related to infection among youth and children in your district and review it continuously," he said.
‘Don’t Underestimate the Virus’
The Prime Minister also acknowledged the hard work of district-level officials and cautioned them against underestimating the deadly virus.
"Coronavirus has made your work more demanding and challenging. In the midst of these new challenges, we need new strategies and solutions. It is important to use local experiences... and we need to work together as a country," he said.
The leader’s comment comes at a time when the newly emergent B.1.617.2 variant of coronavirus has sparked fears in the United Kingdom, Singapore and also India.
It is reported that the B.1.617.2 has become the most common variant in India and about a third of the samples from India submitted to flu virus repository GISAID for virus sequencing were linked to this variant. What is most worrying is that this variant is a particular aggressive strain that is infecting younger persons too.
Singapore told earlier this week that the India-dominant B.1.617.2 was affecting children in the country.
‘Stopping Vaccine Wastage Is Critical’
He also warned officials to ensure zero wastage of the vaccine as every dose is "critical" at a time when the country is battling a second wave of the deadly virus, amid an acute vaccine shortage.
"When vaccines are delivered to you all, we must ensure there is no wastage. You all must monitor this in both urban and rural areas. Stopping vaccine wastage is critical and you all must ensure that we don't have any (wastage)," he said.
Even days after the Centre announced that people above the age of 18 years can get vaccinated, there has been very little progress due to the shortage of vaccine supply. Several vaccination centres have been shut and many states are trying to procure the vaccines directly from the manufacturers abroad.
‘Felt Humiliated:’ Mamata
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who also attended the meeting, slammed PM Modi for not allowing the district leaders to speak.
“It was so unfortunate that after inviting the CMs, he did not talk to us. We were not allowed to speak. Only some BJP chief ministers and the PM made small speeches and ended the meeting after this. It was a casual meeting,” she said, addressing reporters after the meeting.
“We feel humiliated. He never asked about vaccines or about Remdesivir. He never asked about black fungus cases,” she added.
She said that she was going to ask for more vaccine doses for Bengal, but was not given the opportunity to speak.
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