As far as I am concerned the fight's over: Nambi
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 14 : Hours after the Supreme Court on Friday awarded him Rs 50 lakh compensation for the sufferings and ignominy he underwent after being arrested in an espionage case, former ISRO scientist S. Nambi Narayanan said the fight was finally over for him.
"I am happy that a (three-member) committee, and not a commission, has been formed to conduct an inquiry. Till now, it was a fight, but it's over now. I want to live for myself now. Enough is enough," he said.
Narayanan had moved the apex court for a probe into the false case foisted on him by Kerala Police and other agencies.
He had challenged a Kerala High Court judgment that upheld the state's decision not to take action against officials who falsely implicated him in the case, forcing him to stay behind bars for 50 days.
"It was a long-fought case, or rather a judicial war. Let the committee come out with the conspiracy behind the case. With this verdict, police officials should realise that they cannot escape their actions," Narayanan said.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud awarded him the compensation and directed for setting up of the committee led by former apex court Judge D.K. Jain to inquire into the role of officials for implicating him in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) spy case.
These officials include then Inspector General of Police Siby Mathews and then Deputy Superintendents of Police K.K. Joshua and S. Vijayan.
The former ISRO scientist said he hoped that the committee will finish its job in three to six months.
He said that Rs 50 lakh will be paid by the state government and it's up to the state to decide if the money needs be recovered from the erring police officials.
The ISRO spy case surfaced in 1994 when Narayanan was arrested on charge of espionage along with another top ISRO official, two Maldivian women and a businessman.
After the CBI cleared him in 1995, he fought a legal battle against Mathews and other officials who probed the case.
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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.
