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Akal Takht slams state govt for not providing vaccine to SGPC
If deras are converted into vaccination centres, why not provide such facilities on the premises of gurdwaras, asks head of the religious body
Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on Sunday flayed the Punjab government for not providing vaccine to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for organising free vaccination camps at gurdwaras.
Speaking to mediapersons in Amritsar, he said, “The step taken by the SGPC to get people vaccinated on its own is a good initiative. It is a service to humanity. I would like to ask the Union government to provide vaccine to the state governments. It should also import vaccine from other countries. It should also allow religious organisations to import the vaccines directly so that maximum people are inoculated.”
If a dera is converted into a vaccination centre, why not provide such facilities on the premises of gurdwaras which are already helping people since day one, he questioned.
“The SGPC and DSGMC have already converted congregation halls of gurdwaras into Covid-care centres. Discriminating with the SGPC and other Sikh institutions is not good,” he added.
Such arrangements with deras are aimed at garnering votes. This is not a good trend, he said.
“Deaths of lakhs of people prove that the governments have failed to contain the virus infection across the country. They could not even provide oxygen to Covid patients,” the acting jathedar said.
