Pune, Apr 12 (PTI): NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar shared the dais at an event in Satara on Saturday.

This was the second time this week that the two leaders were seen together.

Sharad Pawar on Thursday attended the engagement ceremony of Ajit Pawar’s younger son Jay Pawar near Pune.

Pawar senior and his nephew Ajit, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are on opposite sides of the political divide in Maharashtra since the latter rebelled against his uncle in 2023 and joined the then BJP-Shiv Sena government.

In a social media post after the Satara event, Sharad Pawar said the meeting of the Managing Council of Rayat Shikshan Sanstha was held on Saturday at Chhatrapati Shivaji College.

“During the meeting, the council decided to launch a monthly magazine titled Rayat. The aim is to include diverse and informative articles on topics like education, science, technology, health, literature, sports, social issues, art, culture, and global affairs, and to ensure wide dissemination of this content,” he said.

Besides, it was also decided to start courses on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, Robotics, and 3D Printing, he said.

“It has been decided to start a ‘Center of Excellence’ in Satara. It was also decided to undertake many such visionary initiatives. I, as the president of the organisation, thank all the members of the Managing Council for their cooperation,” he added.

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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.