Rahul Gandhi demands free COVID-19 vaccine for all, tweets dictionary meaning of word `free`

Rahul Gandhi and his party have been demanding free COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens.

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (April 29) demanded free COVID-19 vaccination for all Indians, and sent out a tweet with the dictionary meaning and usage of the word 'free' to emphasize his point.

Gandhi and his party have been demanding free COVID-19 vaccination for all citizens. They have also termed the centre's new vaccination policy discriminatory.

In his Thursday morning tweet, Gandhi further stressed his demand by writing, "free /fri?/ adjective, adverb -- costing nothing, or not needing to be paid for." 

He also illustrated the usage of the word ‘free’ through two examples relevant to his demands, "India must get free COVID vaccine. All citizens must receive the inoculation free of charge.”

"Let's hope they get it this time," he said in the tweet with the hashtag #vaccine.

Separately, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded an on-the-spot registration option also for all adults at inoculation centres, saying the online process may end up excluding many.

"I fail to understand why BOTH options of online pre-registration and on-the-spot registration for walk-ins should not be allowed for vaccination. Online registration should help not hamper. In India's case, mandatory online registration may end up excluding many,“ he said on Twitter.

Nearly 1.3 crore Indians registered themselves online on the government’s dedicated portal CoWin on Wednesday for the mass vaccination drive that is set to begin on May 1.