Mallikarjun Kharge asks RS chair to restore expunged parts of his speech
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday urged Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to restore the expunged parts of his speech on the Motion of Thanks on the president's address.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Kharge said two pages from his February 2 speech were removed, leading to distortion of intent.
"I had raised certain points...they have been removed from the record," he said, and emphasised that he had not taken anybody's name nor violated any rules. He cited several rules to support his argument against the removal of parts of his speech.
The Congress leader added that he also did not made any remarks on "persons in high authority" which required to be expunged.
"I register my strong objection...I would like to request you to restore the expunged part in the House proceedings," Kharge, who has also give a written note to the chairman on the matter, said.
Dhankhar said he would look into it and give his ruling. He also there is a book on 'unparliamentary words'.
On a suggestion from a Rajya Sabha member, the chairman also said he would be happy to constitute a committee to revisit the list of 'unparliamentary expressions'.
"I have received a written communication from the Leader of the Opposition. I have gone through it. I will give my ruling on it," he said.
Dhankhar said Kharge had raised four points in his written communication. The first point relates to a word which is "unparliamentary" and was hence expunged. Points number two, three and four relate certain portion of Kharge's remarks which were made after the Chair had announced "that nothing will go on record".
Earlier in the day, Dhankhar said the House would meet on Saturday (February 10) in order to complete essential government business. There will be no Zero Hour and Question Hour on Saturday.
According to the original schedule, Friday would have been the last day of the ongoing Budget session.
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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.
