PM Modi's Response To Criticism On Shortage Of Beds During 2nd Wave

A poor migrant, said PM Modi, can take his second dose of vaccine in the city he works in, even if he took the first dose in his village. Technology ensures he gets the right vaccine at the right time and seamlessly, the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has credited India's "stunning success in vaccinating its people" to the country being atmanirbhar or self-reliant, adding that he made sure that technology formed the backbone of the vaccination process. On the question of shortage of vaccines, beds at the peak of the second Covid wave, the Prime Minister said he attaches "big importance" to criticism.

Sixty-nine per cent of the country's adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 25 per cent has taken both doses, the government said earlier this week. It aims to inoculate all eligible population by December-end.

"Imagine if our country had not come up with a vaccine. What would be the situation? We know that a large population of the world doesn't have access to Covid vaccines. Today, our success in vaccination is thanks to India being atmanirbhar," PM Modi said in an interview to Open magazine.

The Prime Minister spotlighted how at a science conference a few years ago he suggested it was time to move away from "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan" and work on the mantra of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan (research)". He said his government gives top priority to research.