Modi appeals for contribution towards cleaning Ganga
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday described river Ganga as our "culture, heritage and identity" and urged people to contribute towards cleaning it.
"I want to thank the people of Bijnore for working towards cleaning the Ganga," Modi said while interacting with the people of the Uttar Pradesh district during the launch of the 'Swachhata Hi Seva Movement' (cleanliness is true service) as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, through the NaMo app.
"And banks of river Ganga becoming open defecation free shall be an important stage towards maintaining the purity of the river," Modi said.
"Devotion towards the Ganga and Gangotri should not only be shown but steps should be taken and for that. We also need to ensure that mentality to harm Ganga should also be removed from the mindsets of people," Modi said.
Appealing to the people residing near the banks of the river, Modi asked: "Will you all participate in the cleanliness mission to Ganga clean? I know that like people of Bijnor many others would join the cleanliness movement.
Modi also said that his government was taking a lot of steps to clean Ganga and soon its results would be visible to everyone.
Modi also interacted with the railway personnel in Haryana's Rewari and said that the Indian Railways has done commendable work in furthering cleanliness.
"In every train coach, it is written that Indian Railways is public property. It is written to give a sense to people to adopt it as their own and keep it clean."
Hailing the railway personnel for keeping the coaches and stations clean, Modi said: "Today the kind of cleanliness seen in Indian Railways is due to the hard work of the railway personnels."
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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.
