New Delhi, May 17: The Congress on Monday targeted the Narendra Modi government over the resignation of top virologist Shahid Jameel as the chair of a group of scientific advisers to detect coronavirus variants in the country.
“The resignation of Dr Shahid Jameel, one of India’s best virologists, is really sad. Modi Sarkar has no place for professionals who can speak their mind freely without fear or favour,” senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.
Jameel quit as the chair of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia — a 10-laboratory consortium tasked to carry out genetic sequences of different variants of the coronavirus in India.
The resignation came within days of publication of an article by Jameel in The New York Times, in which the virologist wrote that his fellow scientists “are facing stubborn resistance to evidence-based policymaking” in India.
The scientific advisory group of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortia (INSACOG) was set up for laboratory and epidemiological surveillance of mutating strains of COVID-19 in the country.
“It's correct and I shall have nothing more to say. I am not obliged to give a reason,” Jameel said in a text message to news agency Reuters, adding that he quit on Friday.
Jameel said lower testing, slow pace of vaccination, vaccine shortage and the need for a bigger healthcare workforce were some of the biggest shortcomings in the government’s handling of the pandemic.
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