BENGALURU: Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Thursday inaugurated a vaccination drive for Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) staff, street vendors and slum-dwellers. At least 3,128 BMRCL construction workers got inoculated on the first day of the two-day drive, which was launched from the National College Metro Station and was held at four different metro stations.
The CM said that the first round of vaccination is being undertaken over a period of two days and 7,500 Metro construction workers will benefit from It. The other stations where the drive is being carried out are MG Road, Baiyappanahalli and Vijayanagar. “A total of 900 workers will be vaccinated at each station daily with six vaccination centres in each station,” he said.
He lauded corporate houses for coming forward to offer assistance for the vaccination programme through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Satva Consulting, ACT Grants and United Way donated vaccines to be administered to frontline workers in Bengaluru. An official release said that St John’s Medical College was assisting them in the drive.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the vaccination drive for slum dwellers and street vendors, Yediyurappa said that so far, Bengaluru-based companies have contributed a total of Rs 175 crore under CSR initiatives. The money is being used for vaccination for the needy and economically weaker sections of society, whose health is important to be addressed in controlling the pandemic, the CM said.
He said 53,000 street vendors have been identified and they, along with slum dwellers, will be vaccinated on priority. The government had decided to give Rs 2,000 to each street vendor and those who have ID cards are also being given letters of recommendation to easily avail loans up to Rs 10,000.