National Scholarship Portal Mobile App launched
New Delhi, Sep 13 : Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday launched the country's first National Scholarship Portal mobile app here that would make the government welfare schemes more accessible to needy students.
Naqvi said that the app will ensure a "smooth, accessible and hassle-free scholarship system for students from poor and weaker sections".
Naqvi said the students will get all the information regarding various scholarships on this mobile app. They will be able to apply for scholarships through the app. The students can also upload necessary documents on this app, can check the status of their application and scholarship disbursement status etc.
Students from far-flung/hilly areas and from the North-East will benefit the most.
He said that all the scholarships are being given directly into the bank accounts of the needy students under Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode through the National Scholarship Portal which has ensured that there is no scope for duplication and leakage.
The Minister pointed out that the Ministry of Minority Affairs has gone "completely online", which has eliminated middlemen and the benefits of every scheme are reaching directly to the needy without any obstacle.
The Minister said that during the last four years, about three crore students belonging to the poor and weaker sections of minorities have benefited from various scholarship programmes. The beneficiaries include about 1.63 crore girls.
He added that the school dropout rate among Muslim girls, which was earlier more than 70 per cent, has now been reduced to about 35-40 per cent due to awareness and educational empowerment programmes of the Modi government.
"Our goal is to bring it down to zero per cent. A transparent and hassle-free scholarship system has helped in this endeavour and the new mobile app will help strengthen this transparent mechanism," Naqvi 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.
