Rahul Gandhi accuses Gujarat officer for helping Mallya escape
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused former CBI Joint Director A.K.Sharma, who is also a former Gujarat IPS officer, of helping fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to escape from the country.
He said Sharma, who was in the CBI in 2015, was also "in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's escape plans". The Congress President also alleged that Sharma is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "blue-eyed-boy" in the CBI.
"CBI Joint Director A.K. Sharma, weakened Mallya's "Look Out" notice, allowing Mallya to escape. Mr Sharma, a Gujarat cadre officer, is the PM's blue-eyed-boy in the CBI. The same officer was in charge of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi's escape plans. Ooops...investigation!" Gandhi tweeted.
Earlier this week, he had accused Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley of "colluding" with Mallya to help him flee the country and demanded his resignation.
Gandhi had asked why had Jaitley not informed the investigative agencies about his meeting with the chief of now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.
Mallya, who left India on March 2, 2016, faces charges of defrauding banks to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore.
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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.
