'Namo' food packs in minister's constituency trigger row
Noida/Lucknow (UP), Apr 11: Several security personnel on election duty in Noida were served meals in packets labelled "Namo Foods", triggering criticism from the opposition even after the local police said the packs only displayed the name of a food shop.
The Bahujan Samaj Party said it has complained to the Election Commission.
"NaMo" are widely-recognised Hindi initials of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, previously seen on BJP merchandise and recently as the name of a TV channel.
The Noida sector 20 police station had ordered 750 food packets from Namo Food Corner , which its manager said had opened 13 months back.
Some of the packets were brought in the boot of a hatchback and distributed among police personnel in Noida's sector 15A around 9.30 am, while polling was on in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency under which the Delhi suburb falls.
Union minister Mahesh Sharma is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate seeking re-election there.
The packets, coloured in a shade of saffron and with "Namo" emblazoned on the top in Hindi and foods' in English, soon generated a buzz among curious onlookers.
Namo Food Corner manager Sunil Anand said the outlet in sector 2 is part of Namo Food Pvt Ltd, which was registered in Pune in 2010. There are four other Namo Food Corner shops in Noida, he said.
When contacted in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer L Venkateswarlu said he has already spoken with the district magistrate on the issue.
It is nothing related to the prime minister as the name of the company itself is Namo," he told PTI.
But the Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav blamed the BJP.
"Voters are turning out in large numbers to vote for #MahaParivartan which perhaps explains this desperate move. Clearly, the only thing the BJP knows how to do is branding and marketing," he said, quoting a re-tweet.
The SP's alliance partner Bahujan Samaj Party said it has contacted the EC.
"We have already taken it up both at the state level and with the Election Commission," its national general secretary S C Misra said.
Election rules ban paraphernalia related to parties or candidates within 200 metres of polling booths.
Misra also forwarded photographs of the food packets through social media to substantiate his claim.
A Noida police spokesperson said ordering food packet ahead of important days is a normal practice, done locally at the police station level.
Earlier, Gautam Budh Nagar's senior superintendent of police Vaibhav Krishna issued a statement, saying the packets had nothing to do with any political party.
Misinformation is being spread that some policemen have been distributed food from a political party, he said.
This is absolutely wrong. At the local level, some food packets were procured from Namo Food Shop and not from any political party," he said.
"Some people are spreading wrong and politically motivated rumours. There is no official order to procure food from any particular food outlet, he said.
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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.
