LS polls: Nitin Gadkari casts vote in Nagpur
Nagpur: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who is the BJP candidate from Maharashtra's Nagpur Lok Sabha seat, cast his vote here on Thursday.
Gadkari arrived at the polling booth at Town Hall in Mahal area along with his family members, including wife and two sons, around 10 am.
After casting his vote, the minister told reporters that he was happy to see people coming out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.
"India is the biggest democracy in the world. The entire world is looking at us. I am very happy that people have come out in large numbers to vote," he said.
Appealing voters to ensure a big turnout, Gadkari expressed hope of winning the seat with an even better margin this time than in 2014.
"I went to people with the development works done by the BJP-led government in these five years. People have supported me immensely. I feel that I will win with a better margin than the last election," he said.
Gadkari's main rival in the seat is Congress' Nana Patole, a former BJP MP.
Earlier in the morning, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and its general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi were among the early ones to cast their votes in Nagpur.
Besides, NCP leader Praful Patel and his family members cast their votes in Bhandara-Gondiya Lok Sabha seat of the state.
Polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections began in the morning in the state's seven seats - Nagpur, Wardha, Ramtek, Bhandara-Gondiya, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli-Chimur and Yavatmal-Washim.
All these seats are located in the state's Vidarbha region.
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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.
