Gudur Asked KTR To Stop Dramatisation Of Covid Vaccine

Hyderabad, Aug.6 (Maxim News): Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) Treasurer Gudur Narayana Reddy on Thursday asked IT Minister K. Tarakarama Rao to stop dramatisation of Covid vaccine.

“Several pharma giants from Hyderabad like Bharat Biotech, Shanta Biotech, Dr. Reddy’s Lab, Hetero Drugs, etc., have rich history of producing several vaccines and drugs. Many companies are into the research and production of vaccines even before KTR was born. Therefore, he must not enact dramas to give an impression that he was playing a personal role in the production of vaccine for Covid-19,” Narayana Reddy said in a media statement.

Reddy asked KTR to explain as to why he should be given credit for Covid-19 vaccine. “KTR was a student when the Genome Valley was commissioned as S. P. Biotech Park in 1999. Not even an inch of 600 square kms of land in Genome Valley was allocated by the TRS Government. Entire infrastructure was developed and expanded under the Congress regime from 2004-2014. But we never tried to politicise the scientific community and never interfered with the research. The Congress regimes only acted as the facilitator and provided all logistic help to the scientists. But KTR is enacting too many dramas by trying to take credit for something which he or his government is not involved with,” he said.

“By giving statements on Covid vaccine, KTR is trying to give an impression as if he was the Chief Scientist and the vaccine is being developed in TRS Bhavan. KTR is not even a volunteer in the human trial for vaccine. He is just using his influence to create photo-opportunities with Bharat Biotech chief Dr. Krishna Ella and others so as to take political advantage of scientific research,” Narayana said.

The Congress leader advised KTR to restrain himself from enacting stunts that could damage the credibility of scientific institutions. Instead, KTR should focus on improving the facilities for Covid patients in government hospitals. He said despite the outbreak of pandemic six months ago, the State Government did nothing to combat the deadly virus. He said instead of preventing the spread of virus, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao focused on preventing the spread of truth with regard to Covid-19 situation in Telangana State.

He said KTR did not respond when World Health Organisation chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan rightly pointed out Coronavirus could not be defeated without carrying out tests at a massive scale.

Commenting on the decisions taken during the State Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, Narayana Reddy said that CM KCR has adopted a very casual approach to deal with the pandemic. “The media briefing of Cabinet decisions clearly shows that the State Government was confused and self-contradictory. By announcing that it would keep 10 lakh Covid-19 kits ready for the patients who would be kept in Home Quarantine, CM KCR gave a hint that Telangana was most likely to register a large number of cases in near future. But the same statement says that the government would make arrangements only for 10,000 Oxygen Beds. The Cabinet has approved only Rs. 100 crore to deal with the situation. This amount is not at all sufficient in the current situation. Further, the Chief Minister has approved appointment of medical staff on temporary basis. Why is the State Government not hiring medical staff at a large scale and on permanent basis?” he asked.

He said that the TRS Government, especially CM KCR and his son and minister KTR, were trying to mislead the people on Covid-19 situation. He appealed to the people to stay cautious as many experts have predicted further spread of the diseases in the next few weeks. (Maxim News)