In the midst of running with an instruction from the Union and state governments to expedite the Covid-19 vaccination drive, the health officials in the Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh have received the threatening call from the District Collector that they will be hanged if they fail to meet the vaccination target. The video of his speech, which stirred controversy, had gone viral as his warning has invited widespread outrage over his conduct of addressing the pandemic and vaccine mandate. 

According to reports, Gwalior Collector Kaushlendra Vikram Singh has torched the controversy over his speech, which has come at a high time when it has been said that the collectors in Madhya Pradesh are facing tremendous pressure to complete the vaccination drive. As the new Covid-19 variant Omicron is spreading across the country, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered the authorities to complete 100% vaccination coverage by the end of December. 

With the target to complete the vaccinations, the Collectors in Madhya Pradesh have directed the district authorities and health officials to pace up the vaccination drive and to cover all the eligible people. Several districts have reported having a low-vaccination rate due to a lag in the second dose. The bureaucrat has inspected the areas with the lag of the second dose when he visited Bhitwar in his Gwalior district. 

He was speaking with the local officials and during the interaction, he had found out that the vaccination drive is being slowed down. The local people had informed the Collector that no vaccination camp had been organized in the taluk for the past four to five days. After hearing that no camp was organized, Vikram Singh has got angry and he warned the officials that he would take strict action. 

In the video, he can be heard warning the health officials to vaccinate the unvaccinated people at any cost and complete the target. He was saying, "Go and vaccinate them in the fields and in their homes. Urge them to get vaccinated. Wait outside their home all day if required but vaccinate them." He further said, "If there's even a day's delay, I will hang you." By seeking reasons from the officials for not conducting the vaccination camp and not reporting it to the government, the Collector has instructed them that the vaccination should be accomplished with 100% efficiency.