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No Clampdown On Info, Supreme Court Warns In Big Covid Hearing: 10 Points

India must follow the "national immunisation model which we had followed since independence," the Supreme Court said.

New Delhi: No state should clamp down on information if citizens communicate their grievances on social media, the Supreme Court said today amid Covid surge, stressing that the court will "treat this as contempt if any citizen is harassed".

Here is your ten-point cheat sheet on this big story:

•     A frightening spike in Covid cases in India - hit by a deadly second Covid wave - has led to a deluge of SOS messages on social media as hospitals scramble for resources. "There should not be any presumption (the) grievances raised on internet are false," the top court insisted today.
•     "It is of grave concern to me as a citizen or (a) judge. If citizens communicate their grievances on social media, we do not want clampdown on information. Let us hear their voices. We will treat this as contempt if any citizen is harassed if they want bed or oxygen. We are in (a) human crisis," Justice DY Chandrachud said during the hearing. Even doctors and healthcare workers are not getting beds, he added, calling the situation "grim".
•     Last week, Twitter confirmed deletion of several tweets "in response to a legal request from the government". The posts were deleted for spreading misinformation on Covid, government sources had said.
•     As the government hopes to curb the spread with the new phase of vaccination starting tomorrow that widens the coverage to all adults, the top court yet again questioned the centre over the pricing of vaccines. "Why is the government not buying 100 per cent of doses produced in this time? Why should there be two prices for the centre and the states... what is the rationale," the Supreme Court asked.
•     India must follow the "national immunisation model which we had followed since independence," the court said. "Pricing issue is extraordinarily serious. How will the poor and marginalised people find money to get vaccinated? We cannot have this private sector model," the court said. Hostels, temples, mosques, and religious places of worship should be opened to tackle the Covid spike, the top court suggested.
•     The centre has tweaked its policy to allow states and private entities to buy doses directly from vaccine-makers. Manufacturers are free to supply 50 per cent of the doses to states and in the open market. The change in policy, however, has brought the government under criticism.
•     Last week, the Health Ministry clarified the government’s procurement price for both COVID-19 vaccines - Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and the Serum Institute’s Covishield - remains ₹ 150 per doses and the "government procured doses will continue to be provided totally free to states". Both SII and Bharat Biotech have also reduced prices for the states amid objections.
•     The central government has "special responsibility towards Delhi," the Supreme Court said today, stressing that the national capital "represents micro-problems of the country". "Centre’s proactive role in procuring (oxygen) tankers should be important," the top court said while referring to the shortage of medical oxygen. "As a national authority towards the capital, this is the commitment you owe to citizens in Delhi," it added.
•     "The ground situation in Delhi is oxygen is really not available. Not only in Delhi, but also Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka. What is the effect we are going to see today and the next hearing? How much oxygen you are going to provide to these critical states?" Justice Chandachud asked.
•     The centre told the court that the transportation of oxygen tankers to Delhi is a huge logistic problem and it would be eased out soon. "Delhi’s problem would be acute because it is a non-industrial state. By and large, we have been supplying oxygen to all states," the government said. Virtual control rooms are operating 24x7 for the supply of oxygen, it said.