No laxity in steps to stop Mallya from fleeing: SBI
New Delhi, Sep 14: The State Bank of India (SBI), the lead lender to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, on Friday denied reports of any laxity in moving the court to stop industrialist Vijay Mallya from fleeing abroad.
The Congress said on Friday that a consortium of banks led by the SBI had met Supreme Court senior advocate Dushyant Dave on February 28, 2016, for advice in the Mallya case. On Thursday, Dave went on record that he advised the SBI management to move the Supreme Court the next day and get Mallya's passport confiscated.
"The SBI denies that there has been any laxity on its part or its officials in dealing with loan default cases, including Kingfisher Airlines. The bank has been taking proactive and strong measures to recover the defaulted amounts," the lead bank said in a statement.
Mallya, who has been facing legal proceedings for defaulting on loans of over Rs 9,000 crore, left the country on March 2, 2016, while 13 banks from the consortium moved the court four days later to seek its intervention to prevent the liquor baron from leaving the country.
The SBI, as the consortium leader of 17 banks, had moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru in early March 2016 against the defaulting businessman and had sought impounding of his passport.
Mallya is currently in London where a court finished hearing on India's extradition case against him on Wednesday and is due to pronounce its verdict on December 10.
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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.
