Jaipur, May 31 (IANS): Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday made a scathing attack on the Gehlot government accusing it of wasting 11.5 lakh doses of COVID vaccine, which according to him, could have inoculated over 10 lakh people in the state. He said that the pain and plight of the people of this state will continue to worsen till this government remains in power.

Shekhawat was addressing a virtual press conference and answering a query if the state government will be able to complete its five-year term. He said "Neither am I a fortune teller nor do I believe in premonitions. However, what I know is the fact that this government, since its start, has been divided into two groups fragmented in opinions and action. It has more interest in enhancing its image rather than serving people. The pain and plight of people will continue rising till this government remains in power in the state."

Shekhawat also attacked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on the global tenders issue and said the news pertaining to floating these tenders was spread to get cheap publicity.

"Rajasthan CM was the first person to communicate that their government will vaccinate young population of over 18+ age group. Then they played a global tender drama and when they were unsuccessful everywhere, they started blaming the central government," he said.

The news of vaccines being found in dustbins has come out today itself, he said, referring to the reports that 500 vials of Covid vaccines were found lying in garbage which had over 2500 doses.

The minister also commented on the slow pace of the Jal Jeevan Mission and said that Rajasthan ranks at number 2 after West Bengal when it comes to poor performance of the JJM.

Shekhawat said that each and every person in the country will be vaccinated by December this year and India is next to America in vaccinating the largest number of 21 crore people within a limited time frame.

He also questioned why ventilators in Rajasthan have reported functional problems and no other state has reported this error?

In Bharatpur, ventilators were rented to private hospitals. The technical team manufacturing ventilators found that either the oxygen line was installed wrongly or else the fitting was not proper, he added.

He asked Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi, P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh to apologise to the nation for spreading rumours about the success of the vaccines.