Assembly Election 2022: PM Modi's photo out from COVID vaccine certificates in poll-bound states
The Union Ministry of Health has applied filters on the Co-WIN portal--government web portal for Covid-19 vaccination registration--to exclude PM Modi's photo from the vaccine certificate.
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The Union Health Ministry has made changes in the Co-WIN system to remove Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name and photo from the Covid-19 vaccination certificates in the five poll-bound States with the model code of conduct coming into effect in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur.
Currently, the Prime Minister’s name and picture are printed on digital as well as hard copies of the vaccination certificate. With the announcement of the schedule, the model code of conduct for governments, candidates and political parties has come into force, and as a result no content that seems to be promoting a particular party can be seen on the certificate.
Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa will be held between February 10 and March 7 in seven phases. The counting of votes for all five states will take place on March 10.
Also read: India rolls out 'precaution' vaccine doses of COVID-19 from January 10
A total of 690 assembly constituencies are at stake, of which 403 are in Uttar Pradesh alone. The state assembly election in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases from February 10 till March 3. However, the people of Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa will cast their vote on February 14. Manipur will poll on February 27 and March 3--in two phases.
In March last year, Union Health Ministry had taken a similar initiative during the elections held in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry as suggested by the Election Commission following complaints raised by some political parties.
Meanwhile, India has started administering the precautionary third dose to its high-risk population — healthcare and frontline workers, and people 60 and above with co-morbidities, from Monday.
