Days Before Centre's Policy Change, Supreme Court's Tough Remarks

"The ability to say that you're wrong is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength," Justice DY Chandrachud had said.

The change in the Centre's Covid vaccination policy, announced today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came a week after the government faced some tough questions from the Supreme Court. A three-member bench had on May 31 flagged "various flaws" in the inoculation drive, criticising aspects such as differential pricing, shortage of doses, and a lack of access in rural India. In a national address today, PM Modi announced that his government would take back control of the drive from the states and provide vaccines free of charge to all above 18 from June 21. He revised the rules of the drive's third phase which came into force a month ago. On May 31, the Supreme Court bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, LN Rao, and S Ravindra Bhat had observed, "Your rationale was high mortality in the 45+ group (but), in the second wave, this group is not seriously affected...it is 18-44. If the purpose is to procure vaccines, why should the Centre procure only for those aged over 45?"