Coronavirus | Compassion must be cornerstone of government policy, former bureaucrats tell Modi Updated: Updated: May 20, 2021 22:57 IST Government must provide free universal vaccination to all citizens, 116 retired All-India and Central services officers write to PM. Share Article Prime Minister Narendra Modi. | Photo Credit: PTI Government must provide free universal vaccination to all citizens, 116 retired All-India and Central services officers write to PM. A group of 116 former bureaucrats wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday calling for compassion in government policy on handling the COVID-19 pandemic, apart from several administrative measures to be taken. The retired All-India and Central services officers, under the banner of Constitutional Conduct Group, wrote: “Despite warnings from the international community and our own scientists, the breathing space between the first and the second waves was not used to augment critical resources such as medical staff, hospital beds, oxygen supplies, ventilators and drugs and other medical supplies. Even more inexcusably, no advance planning was done to secure adequate stocks of vaccines, despite India being one of the major vaccine suppliers to the world.”