Chattisgarh: Amid polling, Naxals trigger IED blast; none hurt
Raipur: Naxals triggered an IED blast on Thursday morning in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where voting is underway, a senior police official said.
No casualty was reported in the incident, he said.
Narayanpur comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha seat.
"The explosion took place around 4.15 am in Farasgaon area on Narayanpur-Dandwan road when a team of security men was escorting polling personnel to their booth," the official said.
Naxals had planted the explosive underground and were waiting for the security forces to arrive.
"However, when the rebels realised that security personnel had changed their route and were zeroing-in on them through a forest, they triggered the IED (improvised explosive device) blast in panic and fled the spot," he said.
"No harm was caused to the security and polling personnel in the explosion," he added.
A thick security blanket, comprising around 80,000 state and paramilitary personnel, was thrown across the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where polling is being held in its four Assembly segments - Dantewada, Konta, Bijapur and Narayanpur - from 7 am to 3 pm, he said.
The voting time in the remaining four Assembly segments - Bastar, Chitrakot, Kondagaon and Jagdalpur - is from 7 am and 5 pm, the official added.
Total seven candidates are in fray in the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency.
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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.
