New Delhi, May 23 (IANS): Coming down heavily on the continuation of Central Vista project, Congress leader Kapil Sibal in a statement on Sunday said, future government should remove the plaque from the project and should write about the apathy of the government towards citizens.
Kapil Sibal in a statement on Sunday said, "The government which comes to power in future must remove the plaque and instead write that this project was built despite the fact that money was needed to save people's lives during the pandemic. It is an act of monumental insensitivity not to voluntarily stop the project."
Sibal said that the government should purchase vaccine and vaccinate every citizen and pool all the resources including the PM CARES fund and use Rs 35,000 crore earmarked for vaccination in the budget.
"The real problem that the country is facing these days is absence of adequate vaccines and production facilities," he said.
He asked why there has been limit to companies involved in production of the vaccines and international vaccine manufacturers are excluded. He justified the suggestion made to the government by the opposition and alleged that the government has not performed at the time of crisis.
Twelve major opposition parties including four chief ministers had on May 12 wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the government should stop the Central Vista project and instead use the money to procure oxygen and vaccines.
The letter said, "We have repeatedly in the past drawn your attention, independently and jointly, to the various measures that are absolutely imperative for the Central government to undertake and implement. Unfortunately, your government has either ignored or refused all these suggestions. This only compounded the situation to reach such an apocalyptic human tragedy."
The Congress has been attacking the government over mishandling of the pandemic and not heeding to the advise of ex-PM Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and the opposition parties.
The Delhi High Court has reserved its verdict on a plea seeking to halt the construction of Central Vista redevelopment project against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.