Prashant Kishor dares Lalu to disclose what transpired during their talks
Patna: Poll strategist Prashant Kishor dared RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday to tell the media what transpired during their talks, a day after former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi claimed that Kishor had met her husband with the proposal to merge the JD(U) and the RJD.
Kishor, who is the national vice-president of the Janata Dal (United), also came down heavily on Prasad for making "false claims" and tweeted saying "those convicted or facing charges of abuse of public office and misappropriation of funds are claiming to be the custodians of truth".
He dared the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo to sit with him before the media and tell everybody what transpired during their meeting and who offered what.
"Whenever @laluprasadrjd ji wants, he should sit with me before the media as it would let everybody know what transpired between me and him and who gave an offer to whom," Kishor said in a tweet.
Rabri Devi on Friday claimed that Kishor had met her husband Lalu Prasad with the proposal that the RJD and Nitish Kumar's JD(U) merge and the new entity thus formed declare its "prime ministerial candidate" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
If Kishor denies having met Prasad with such a proposal, he is speaking a "blatant lie", she said.
"I got infuriated and asked him to go away as I had no trust left in Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar following his betrayal," the RJD national vice-president, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state legislative council, told a regional news channel here.
Kumar had in 2017 walked out of the Grand Alliance, which was formed upon his party's partnership with the RJD and the Congress, and had re-joined the BJP-led NDA.
Kishor had earlier termed as "bogus" the claim of Prasad in his recently published autobiography that Kumar wanted to return to the Grand Alliance, for which he had sent Kishor as his emissary to the RJD supremo.
Kishor had worked with both Kumar and Prasad as a strategist during the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls. He formally joined the JD(U) in September last year.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
