AAP seeks resignation of Punjab health minister

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday sought the resignation of Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, holding him responsible for low Covid vaccination coverage in the state.Only 5.35 per cent of the state population has been fully vaccinated, said Aam Aadmi Party AAP MLAs Aman Arora and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday sought the resignation of Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, holding him responsible for low Covid vaccination coverage in the state.

Only 5.35 per cent of the state population has been fully vaccinated, said Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs Aman Arora and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. ''This means that more than 94 per cent of the population is at risk of Covid. This reflects incompetence of the state and central governments, which left the people of Punjab in the lurch,'' they said in a statement here. Arora said the ruling Congress, especially Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, who ''wasted'' crores of rupees on the Mission Fateh, should explain why he has been so ''careless'' in the fight against COVID-19 and vaccination campaign.

''So far, only 17.62 lakh people have been able to get two doses needed for complete protection from coronavirus while the number of people taking the first dose is only 77.16 lakh, which is not even one third of the total population,'' he said. Arora and Hayer demanded the resignation of Sidhu on the moral ground and said the health minister and the Congress government cannot ''run away'' from their responsibility just by blaming the Centre.

Sidhu on Monday had said that only 5.35 per cent of Punjab population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while blaming the Centre for not supplying sufficient doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine.