Politicos not in favour of new SOPs governing vaccination drive

PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for the vaccination drive has come in for criticism from political parties

PUNE The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration’s standard operating procedure (SOP) for the vaccination drive has come in for criticism from political parties.

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PMC commissioner Vikarm Kumar issued the guidelines for the vaccination drive on Tuesday, due to much interference from political parties.

The decision was taken after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) city president Prasant Jagatap, Shiv Sena party leader Sanjay More, and Congress leader Ramesh Bagwe met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar about the issue.

The SOPs include not allowing members of political parties or any person to enter the vaccination centre. Staffers at the centre can now seek police protection to handle the situation and file a case against any intruder.

The commissioner’s order also prohibits posters or hoardings around vaccination centres.

Mulrlidhar Mohol, mayor, said, “Prohibition of local corporators is not good. Corporators are servants of the public. To help the public is the duty of the corporation. PMC should not put blame on political parties for the misuse of power by some corporators. If we are not present at the centre, people will ask us questions.”

“It is absolutely wrong to give orders to file a police complaint against a corporator. The decision has been taken under political pressure,” he added.

Aba Bagul, Congress leader in the corporation said, “It is not acceptable to file a police complaint against corporators. The corporation doesn’t have enough manpower or machinery to successfully complete the vaccination drive. The commissioner should not hold all corporators responsible for any wrongdoing.”

Prithviraj Sutar, Shiv Sena Party leader in PMC said, “Due to too much political interference, the PMC commissioner took the decision.”