18 children rescued from Bihar school reach Tripura
Agartala, Sep 15 : A group of 18 children who were rescued by the Bihar Police from a Buddhist School and Meditation Centre in Bodh Gaya have reached here, an official said on Saturday.
The police said the children, all boys and aged between 12 to 14 years, were sent to the school by their parents six months ago.
"The Bihar police last month rescued a large number of children including these 18 boys from the school after their parents complained of mistreatment by a monk," the official told the media.
The Bihar police earlier this week handed over the children to a team of Tripura Police. These boys reached here on Friday night, Tripura Child Rights Commission Chairperson Nilima Ghosh told IANS.
Tripura Health and Family Welfare Minister Sudip Roy Barman, who along with Ghosh received the children at the Agartala railway station, said the children were sent without any information or permission of the state government.
Barman said the Tripura government would take up the matter with Bihar and the state and Bihar police would jointly probe the matter.
Among the 18 children, 15 are from Tripura, two from Arunachal Pradesh and one from neighbouring Assam.
Ghosh said that the rescued children, now under the care of an NGO, Child Line, would be sent back to their homes soon.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
