"Who Will Get Vaccinated When There Is No Vaccine?" Delhi High Court Questions 'Irritating' Caller Tune For Vaccination

Questioning the caller tune used for awareness of covid Vaccination drive, the Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre who will get vaccinated where there is not enough vaccines. Stating that there should be some sense of emergency, the Court also asked the Union of India and the GNCTD to ensure steps regarding dissemination of information of covid 19 management.

"You have been playing that one irritating message on the phone whenever one makes a call, for we do not know how long, that you (people) should have the vaccination, when you (Centre) don't have enough vaccine.

"You are not vaccinating people, but you still say that vaccination lagavaiye (get vaccinated). Kaun lagayega vaccination (who will get vaccinated), when there is no vaccination. What is the point of the message,

A division bench comprising of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rekha Palli was hearing a clutch of petitions concerning the covid 19 situation in the national capital.

During the course of hearing, Advocate Anurag Ahluwalia apprised the Court that the ICMR has from time to time updated the guidelines and have also taken steps by making videos of Dr. Gulleria in order to inform the public about the covid 19 virus.

Hearing this, the Bench orally remarked:

"ICMR has out down all material over here. They have dumped it here and categorised it.We're talking about dissemination to public. It's not very conducive to do it like this.We need someone to educate people, maybe you can make some clip, use graphic or give it in newspaper."

Furthermore, Ahluwalia apprised the Court that there is already a mechanism in place wherein regular tweets and short videos are shared on ICMR's twitter handle and that the brochures uploaded are also minimised.

On this, the Bench observed thus:

"Audio visual of Dr. Gulleria should be televised on news channels like Doordarshan. It's the responsibility of the Centre. As far as the print media is concerned, Delhi Government must ensure it. It must be something which can be easily transferred to public when you share it. For example we said what kind of Concentrator to buy, what are the do's and don'ts. We have to look at those aspects also."

At this juncture, amicus curiae Rajshekhar Rao suggested the Bench that instead of asking people to go, calls should be made and Videos must be whatsapped. 

"The government has the database. You cant wait for people to come, the government has to go to the people." Rao submitted.

At this juncture, Ahluwalia assured the Court that the issue of dissemination of information to the public will be taken up with the concerned Ministry. 

At this juncture, Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra suggested the Court that the help of famous personalities like Mr. Amitabh Bacchan can be taken to ensure the dissemination of covid information to a larger public sphere. Agreeing to this, the Court orally remarked thus:

"You can ask anyone. Whether Mr. Bacchan or anyone. This should be done soon. There should be some sense of urgency. We are loosing time. Please report on Tuesday."

During the course of hearing, the Court also suggested that engagement with a team of producers or experts in collaboration with the experts themselves can be used for dissemination and propagation of covid 19 information without the use of too much medical jargon.

The Court will now hear the matter on Monday.

With PTI Inputs

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