MP will inoculate all by Dec-end, no need for vaccine mandate: CM Chouhan

Spreading awareness about Covid-19 and vaccination over television, radio and social media. Hitting the streets and personally asking people to get the jab, maintain distance and adhere to Covid protocol. And, finally, involving social groups, political parties, civil society organisations and religious bodies to appeal to the public.

This is the three-pronged “public participation” model adopted by the Madhya Pradesh government to convince people to remain cautious about the pandemic and boost vaccination, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Friday.

Speaking on the fourth day of the 19th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the CM said that his state will not need to make shots mandatory and that everyone in the state will be fully vaccinated by the end of the year.

“I think Madhya Pradesh will not require any vaccine mandate and we will finish vaccinating everyone by December 31. We are steadily doing the work of vaccinating people. We run special campaigns to jab people,” he said.

Vaccine mandates entail linking a person’s vaccination status to their employment, movement or ability to access government benefits. Some states in India have moved towards clamping curbs on movement of unvaccinated people and others, such as Delhi, have asked government employees to get fully vaccinated.

Earlier this week, Kerala said free government Covid-19 treatment will be available only to patients with at least one dose of the vaccine. But Chouhan said Madhya Pradesh will not follow a similar policy.

“We will do this by convincing the public, we will not need to make such a move,” he added. The state has partially vaccinated 24.3% of its 73 million population and fully vaccinated 69% of the population.

The CM detailed the state’s readiness to deal with any possible surge in infections and said people were ready to adhere to medical norms because the wounds inflicted by the brutal second wave of the pandemic were still fresh in everyone‘s mind.

“Madhya Pradesh made the public participation model. At the panchayat, block and district level, we made crisis management committees and asked lawmakers, public representatives and civil society members. They helped run Covid care centres, distributed medical and test kits, and boosted vaccination efforts. The central government praised our efforts,” he said.

“On December 1, I spoke to 22,000 panchayat members, block and district officials, and told everyone what the World Health Organization and PM Narendra Modi had said. We appealed to people to wear masks, wash hands and maintain distance. We also did a mock drill of all oxygen plants, ventilators and concentrators. We are working on a war footing.”

He said the government’s primary aim was to stave off a possible third wave of the pandemic with the help of the public, and was making all possible arrangements. “We don’t want the economy to be stalled and the poor to be hurt. Hence we haven’t put any curbs with one exception: in schools, we have put the physical attendance of students at 50% to ensure they can maintain distance. As we go ahead, we will follow the advice of scientists and the policy made by the central government and PM Narendra Modi,” he added.

He hailed the central government’s vaccination policy and the steady clip of the immunization campaign, and said it was the responsibility of the states to ensure that jabs get administered. “PM Modi has made enough vaccines available for free, now states where vaccination coverage is low should forge ties at all levels of society and get them done.”

Chouhan also spoke about his government’s pro-farmer policies and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was focused on the welfare of cultivators. “Every decision of the PM is in the best interest of farmers and the nation,” he said.

He said the leadership of PM Modi nurtured the nation and improved its image across the world. “He is a true global leader and every development project has been started by him. Many schemes have transformed the lives of the poor and the farmers. For elections, we always advance a development agenda and I am sure we will win with a big margin,” the CM added.

He said the government has taken extraordinary steps for the welfare of farmers, such as the PM-Kisan scheme, under which farmers get an annual minimum income support of ₹6,000, or the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, which aims to provide an insurance cover to agriculturists. “The farmers are happy with these steps,” he said.

Referring to Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s repeated rounds of negotiation with agitating farm unions, Chouhan said the government was committed to the welfare of agriculturists.

When asked about recent complaints made by comedians that their freedom of expression was being muzzled in the state, the chief minister said his government respected everyone’s rights

“In the age of social media, a tweet or post can destabilize the state. We want to maintain peace and avoid unnecessary controversy. Everyone has the freedom of expression but it cannot hurt anyone else’s sentiments. If that happens, then the administration has to take certain steps to maintain law and order,” he said.

His comments came in the backdrop of controversies around comedian Munawar Faruqui, who was arrested in Indore in January this year and Vir Das, whose recent show in Washington DC stirred a political row and led to police complaints being filed against him. Last month, state home minister Narottam Mishra said the comedian will not be allowed to perform in Madhya Pradesh.

Chouhan also spoke about his political life and said it was the BJP that decided a person’s political responsibility. “I had never thought I will even fight an assembly election. The party directed me, and so I contested the polls.”