The PMC recently allowed vaccination camps in residential societies in Kharadi, Vimannagar and Wadgaon Sheri through private hospitals following long pending demand by residents.
The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) move to allow private hospitals to hold Covid-19 vaccination camps in housing societies with the help of NGOs has run into a controversy with Opposition parties accusing some leaders of using the initiative for political gains by involving their NGOs in the task.
The PMC recently allowed vaccination camps in residential societies in Kharadi, Vimannagar and Wadgaon Sheri through private hospitals following long pending demand by residents.
Few of these camps are being organised by Surendra Pathare Foundation, which has joined hands with a private hospital to inoculate 25,000 citizens in residential societies.
“The vaccination camp was started on June 5 in 12 housing societies of Vimannagar, Kharadi and Wadgaon Sheri. A total of 4,100 citizens of 48 housing societies were administered the vaccine doses on the first day at centers set up in 12 different housing societies,” said Surendra Pathare, son of former legislator Bapu Pathare, who shifted from the NCP to the BJP few years ago, and founder of Surendra Pathare Foundation.
“The vaccines are made available by the private hospital to the beneficiaries at Rs 1,000 per dose while the Foundation is paying Rs 250 per dose for making the necessary arrangement,” he said, adding a total of 25,000 residents of 172 housing societies would be administered the vaccine in 10 days.
Notably, Vimannagar, Kharadi and Wadgaon Sheri are part of the electoral area that was represented by Bapu Pathare as a corporator in PMC and as a legislator in the state legislative assembly.
Prashant Jagtap, the city chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said while it is good to take the vaccination drive to the doorstep of the citizens, it should not be used for political gains. “It seems some political leaders are using the vaccination drive for personal gains by considering the beneficiaries as votebanks. The PMC should be careful in giving permission to vaccination camps in housing societies,” he said.
A PMC officer said that the civic body has given permission only to private hospitals to organise vaccination camps in housing societies. “We only give permissions to private hospitals for holding camps there and have got nothing to do with involvement of social organisations and NGOs in it. It is true that many political leaders, through their social organisations, approach the private hospitals for vaccination camps in their respective electoral areas but the PMC has no role in it,” he said.
Appreciating Pathare’s initiative, Jagdish Mulik, city chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said, “The city BJP too is planning to join hands with a private hospital to provide free vaccination to the poor citizens.”
City Congress spokesperson Ramesh Iyer said, “The ruling BJP in the PMC had hijacked the vaccination drive in the earlier phases by getting government centers set up in their electoral areas and indulging in their own publicity there. Now, they are trying to get the publicity with the help of private hospitals.”
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