Jamnagar (Gujarat), Apr 14: A month after Ravindra Jadeja's wife joined the BJP, the cricketer's father and sister joined the Congress in Gujarat on Sunday in the presence of party leader and Patidar quota spearhead Hardik Patel.

Jadeja's father, Anirudhsinh, and sister, Nainaba, joined the Congress at an election rally in Kalavad city of Jamnagar district. Jadeja hails from Jamnagar and the Congress candidate for Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat, Mulu Kandoriya, was also present.

The Chennai Super Kings all-rounder's wife, Rivaba, had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on March 3 in Jamnagar in the presence sitting MP Poonamben Maadam, who was renominated by the saffron party.

Hardik Patel was expected to be fielded by the Congress from Jamnagar, but the Patidar leader's chances were scuttled after the Supreme Court had on April 2 rejected the plea to stay his conviction in a case in which he was sentenced to two years in jail.

Polls to all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held in the third phase of the general election on April 23.

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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.