New Delhi, May 11 (IANS): Amid the raging pandemic the Congress has initiated a campaign #SpeakUpToSaveLives to strengthen the fight against Covid-19.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the campaign and said: "Our country needs a helping hand in these distressing times. Let's all do our bit to save lives. "

The Congress has been accusing the government of mishandling the crisis.

It has alleged that the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is nothing short of a grave calamity and a direct consequence of the Narendra Modi government's "indifference, insensitivity and incompetence".

"It is the direct result of the central government's willful disregard of scientific advice, its premature declaration of victory over the pandemic (that turned out to be just the first wave), and its unwillingness and inability to plan in advance in spite of warnings sounded not only by public health experts but also by the Standing Committee of Parliament concerned."

The Congress has said that the vaccine supplies "are grossly insufficient, and the pricing policy is opaque and discriminatory.

The mandatory online registration without a walk-in option will exclude -- and may have already excluded -- millions of our citizens, particularly those in rural areas and those belonging to the weaker sections of society".