 The HLL Biotech Limited in Chengalpattu, named as HBL, a public sector undertaking owned by the central government, has been lying idle for several years, even though it is capable of producing vaccines for COVID-19 in its integrated vaccine complex. There is a continuous demand from the civil society and the political leaders to make the HBL to produce vaccines for COVID-19. The new DMK government in Tamil Nadu has requested to lease the unit in order to make it functioning, but the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the center has not taken any fruitful steps to produce vaccines. Mr. Thomas Franco, from People's First, a forum for saving public sector units from privatisation, said that India got empowered on many fronts by the contribution from many public sector units in the country, but the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the center doesn't acknowledge it. Instead, the Modi government is helping the private companies to utilise the situation for their benefits. In this video, Mr. Franco is detailing the instances where the Modi government has favoured the private players. The main issue is that this government is having a policy to privatise everything. The same government has made a statement that the Prime Minister himself has made a statement, public sector was born to die. Another statement is that this government has no business to be in business. Okay, vaccine production is also a business, but it is more of a service to the population of this country. See, we have been a pioneer in vaccine production. The Prime Minister in his recent address to the nation, he actually uttered lies that we did not have vaccination, we were importing only vaccination, we did not have the capacity. Only now I have brought all this capacity, which is not true. In the British period itself, the first vaccine for plague was prayed out and successfully, in the whole world, plague vaccine became available in the Bombay hospital, government hospital. Dr. Hopkins was responsible for that. It is in his name Hopkins Institute has been constituted, that is one. Even before independence itself, British, they started three more units. One is the Pasteur Institute in Kunur, that is next to Utti. Another is CRI in Aushali, Himachal Pradesh. Sometime back, the government had announced that that is one of the best facilities available in the world, meeting the standards of the global norms. Then there is an institute called the BCG Vaccine Institute in Chennai. All of them were producing vaccine before independence itself. Then subsequent to that, there has been 12 public sector units under the central government and many more under the control of the state government producing vaccine. They produce vaccine for diphtheria, polio, tetanus, typhoid, smallpox, cholera, tuberculosis, Japanese and subtleties, yellow fever. All kind of vaccines have been produced in this country with these public sector units. That is why India was known as the pharmacy of the world. Before the pandemic, we were supplying vaccine to 150 countries. We were meeting the immunization needs of the world to the extent of 60%. And Prime Minister says, no, no, no, we only started, there was nothing available. Why he is forgetting these 12 units which are operational under his control, under his ministries? The National Diary Development Board has Indian Immunological Institute in Hyderabad, which has the capacity to produce vaccine. Now you are giving that vaccine to capacity to Bharat Biotech. Similarly, Gulam Saheb there is one big call that again they are giving to Bharat Biotech. They are not allowing the public sector to produce. They want the private sector to enter there and do the production. That is the most unfortunate thing. This is definitely something which the government, the Prime Minister has to be held accountable. When you have so much of capacity available, maybe a slight modification might be required. That is a small thing. When you are giving money to Bharat Biotech for their private infrastructure in Bangalore, similarly in Hyderabad, why not provide it to the public sector undertakings? They have the capacity to do it very quickly. And they are giving advance money also. See, even in the case of serum institute, they are providing advance money. In the case of the vaccine of Bharat Biotech, the technology was found out only by the ICMR and the Indian Virological Institute. They only segregated the virus and they could both help them to produce this vaccine. They tested the vaccine. The testing is even now done only in Kaushalipa Kishore Institute. In spite of that, everything is being provided to the private sector. They don't want the public sector to be supported. And now you see, they are producing, giving so much of money in advance, 1,500 crores for one company to produce vaccine. Sputnik vaccine, which is imported from Lashiv also, now they are giving to only Redisland, which is again a private sector undertakings. And they will be provided these facilities, funding, advance money, but public sector will not be given. This policy of supporting only the private sector and killing the public sector has to be reversed. If that is not done, the country is going to face further troubles. We are going to see the that way and more people are going to be affected with that. And it is the Prime Minister and the Health Minister who have to be held accountable for so much of deaths in this country. See, even the oxygen production, who did it? It's not the private sector. It was 90% of the oxygen production when the shortage came, it was done to the public sector. They were producing only industrial oxygen, but quickly they switched over to production of medical oxygen. And today almost there is no shortage of oxygen anywhere. So when you have this capability of the public sector, you have to make use of it. It is the taxpayers' money with which it was started. And public sector has always supported the government in all its endeavors. So the government has to reverse its policy of privatisation and support public sector. That is our appeal. See, in the oxygen production, till authority of India, Indian Oil Corporation and at least 20 other public sector undertakings, water-heavy electrical limiters, so many of these units immediately jump into action and produce medical oxygen. The transportation was done by the public sector, the Indian Railways, which they have already started privatising. Indian Railways has run so many trains called the Oxygen Express. They have already transported more than 28,000 tonnes of oxygen throughout the country. In some cases, the containers are transported by the Air India to the Steel Authority of India Union. Once they are loaded, that is transported by the Indian Railway so that quickly the empty tanker can reach the Union. And that they have done a meticulous planning so that the oxygen reaches the destination as quick as possible. It is because the public sector railway is there. This is being forgotten by the Prime Minister. He has not acknowledged in his speech any contribution of the public sector, all which was done by the public sector. He claims that it is my victory. I did this. I did this. This I syndrome has to go. Our first demand is that immediately provide the permission to Tamil Nadu State Government to run the IBC Unit at Sengalpur. That it become operational. Second demand is that provide transfer of technology. The technology was developed with the help of ICMR and Indian Virology Institute. So that technology should be made available to public sector units which have the capability to produce vaccine. There are 12 units in the country under the Sengal government. Let them be given permission to produce vaccine so that more production can take place at a very short time. The third one is give up this policy of privatization. Change your mindset. Public sector is for service. It is not just business. It has done a human service to this country. Even during this pandemic if you see every public sector, let it be the oil sector, let it be the steel sector, let it be the power sector, let it be the banking sector, let it be the insurance sector. Every one had been working overnight. Most of these units were functioning under the lockdown also. No banks were, no bank branches were closed under the lockdown. More than 1300 people have lost their lives. Bank employees, they continue to give these surveys. All the governments came. Whatever they were announcing that was implemented by the public sector bank. Similarly the public sector undertakings have provided whatever was the demand made on them. And they are contributing so much to the checker. See yesterday the result of steel authority of India was there. They have made a huge profit more than 3800 crores. Where this profit goes, it goes to the Sengal government. So they should support public sector and stop this policy of privatization. That is our deal.