Shutdown in Telangana town over Dalit man's killing
Hyderabad, Sep 15 : A shutdown was imposed in Telangana's Miryalguda town on Saturday over the murder of a Dalit man in an apparent case of honour killing.
Shops and business establishments remained closed in the town in Nalgonda district, about 150 km from Hyderabad.
Dalit organisations took out rallies, demanding justice for the family of 23-year-old Pranay Kumar, who was hacked to death on Friday as he was coming out of a hospital along with his wife Amrutha Varshini, with whom he had an inter-caste marriage six months ago.
They were in love since their school days and had married against the wishes of the girl's parents. Since then, he was facing threats to his life, according to informed sources.
Amrutha, who is five-months pregnant, told reporters that her father Maruthi Rao is behind the murder. She said he had been tracking their movements.
The police have reportedly arrested Rao, who allegedly hired a killer to murder Pranay. Amrutha's uncle T. Shravan was also detained.
CCTV cameras near the hospital captured the gruesome crime. Scanning of CCTV images of the last few days by the police also revealed that the killer had conducted a recce of the area.
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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.
