Modi govt must give SC details of 100 Indians spied upon through Pegasus spyware: Congress
New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI): The Congress on Saturday demanded that the Centre put before the Supreme Court the latest revelations made in the US court that 100 Indians were spied upon using the Pegasus spyware.
Addressing a press conference here, party leader Randeep Surjewala said it was clear that the Pegasus was used to hack the cell phones of 100 Indians, and demanded a court-ordered inquiry into the matter.
"NSO, which has sold the Pegasus software, has clearly said that the spying software licences were taken by sovereign governments. It is clear that spying was done, but when will the Modi government answer on this," he said.
"Does this not prove prima facie that the (Narendra) Modi government bought the Pegasus software for spying? Who are these 100 people who were spied upon and with whose permission were their phones hacked," Surjewala said.
He said the government should also tell who gave permission to buy the software and where the money came from.
"When documents have been made public in America's court, is it not the government of India's responsibility to present the documents before the Supreme Court on April 22, so that the Court carries out a thorough investigation into this entire issue? The Modi government must give answers to these questions," he asserted.
The Congress leader said this has come out in the exchange of pleadings/documents between WhatsApp & NSO Group (owner of Pegasus) in US Court reflecting that the spyware was purchased by a "Sovereign," ie a government or its agencies.
The targets were opposition leaders, judges, journalists, even Union minister(s) and other prominent individuals, he said, adding that Rahul Gandhi had brought out the issue of Pegasus spyware being used on those in disagreement with the current Government.
Earlier, the issue snowballed into a major controversy and a full session of Parliament was wasted after the Congress and several parties in the opposition demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.
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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.
