IPS officer Amitabh Thakur found 'not guilty' in DA case
Lucknow, Sep 13: After more than three years of investigation against senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amitabh Thakur, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has found him "not guilty" in a disproportionate assets (DA) case, an official said on Thursday.
Investigating Officer, Superintendent of Police (EOW) D.P.N. Pandey, found in his investigation that total earnings of Amitabh between 1992 and 2015 was Rs 1.30 crore, while the value of his total assets and expenditure was Rs 90 lakh -- much lower than his earnings.
The EOW also found that Amitabh's wife and activist Nutan Thakur had been financially independent and her earnings during this period was Rs 92 lakh, while her total assets and expenditure was valued at Rs 90 lakh.
So, the EOW recommended closure of the DA case against Amitabh.
The then Samajwadi Party (SP) government had filed a slew of cases against the IPS officer, two days after he filed a complaint on July 11, 2015 against Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's father Mulayam Singh.
The state government initiated a vigilance inquiry against Amitabh, which concluded its probe in less than two months on September 4, 2015, declaring Thakur guilty of owning disproportionate assets.
On September 16, 2015, an FIR (No 746/2015) under Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered, which was transferred to the EOW on the orders of Allahabad High Court.
Following delay in investigation, Amitabh had approached the high court which directed completion of investigation in 10 weeks.
Later, he again knocked at the doors of high court over non-compliance of its orders, to which the court issued a contempt notice against the Investigation Officer.
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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.
