What Is The Actual Vaccine Production Capacity In India?
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-07-24 14:02:23
About the Author
There can be no excuse - of being a newcomer in the ministry or of being a first timer - for the three different answers provided to similar questions in parliament in a single day by the MoS for Health Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar. In fact, when one is a newcomer or a first timer, one is expected to be thorough and well prepared and double check facts before putting them out in public domain, especially in the august houses of parliament. But the way the minister replied to the questions, she has confused the nation about the actual production capacity of Covid vaccines in India.
Although this is not the first time that a minister has given wrong facts and figures in an answer in parliament (and neither will it be the last time), since the matter related to the production of vaccines and since their shortage is derailing the vaccine drive, it was necessary for the minister to get her facts right. But she gave out three different figures for Covaxin production capacity and two for Covishield and what was more damning was that these figures did not match with the various sworn affidavits the Centre had submitted before the Supreme Court.
This brings the focus on the way answers are prepared for the ministers. There must be a pool of officers in the ministry who prepare these answers. Now the question is, were the answers to the three questions on vaccine production capacity prepared by the same official or three different officials? If they were prepared by the same official, then he or she must immediately be sacked for gross incompetence. If three different officials did the 'honours' for similar questions, then there is something seriously wrong with the process.
The episode also shows that ministers do not prepare for the day ahead in parliament. They are aware that they will have to answer the questions. They have the answers with them. Is it too much of a pain to go through the answers? If Dr Pawar had taken the trouble of going through what she was putting out in public, she might have discovered the errors and would not have given the impression that even the government does not know the production capacity of Covid vaccines being produced in the country.
