Noisy scenes in Lok Sabha over DMK leader's remark against Union Minister Murugan
New Delhi, Feb 6: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a war of words over a remark made by T R Baalu against Union Minister L Murugan, with ruling BJP MPs asking the DMK leader to apologise for "insulting" a Dalit.
As Baalu did not heed to the demand, Speaker Om Birla expunged the word from the records while DMK members along with the Congress and Left MPs staged a walk out.
The incident took place when the House was discussing a question related to flood relief to Tamil Nadu during the Question Hour.
After two of his party colleagues asked questions on the subject, Baalu asked a supplementary. At that point of time, Murugan, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, who also hails from Tamil Nadu, said the DMK leader was asking an "irrelevant" question.
At this, Baalu made a comment against Murugan.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, his deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal, several other minister and BJP MPs were on their feet protesting against the remark of Baalu.
They claimed that Murugan is a Dalit and the remark is an "insult" to the entire Dalit community and demanded an apology. However, Baalu repeated the word.
At this, the ruling party members protested again and sought his apology.
Soon, the speaker expunged the remark.
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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.
