Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has become people's movement: Jaitley
New Delhi, Sep 15 : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday described the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBM) as "the most successful" scheme of the Modi government which has become a "people's movement".
The Minister said SBM has witnessed a "phenomenal increase" in rural sanitation from 39 per cent to 92 per cent in the last four years.
Pointing out that initially, people in the rural areas were reluctant to accept the scheme and thus required a "behavioural change", the Finance Minister said the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan mission movement has transformed into 'women movement' with women playing a leading role.
"We all knew that the dignity of women demanded the privacy of toilet," Jaitley said in his blog and that in several parts of India toilets have been named "Izzat Ghar".
However, Jaitley said "women of India are now stepping beyond their roles as mere beneficiaries of this programme to leaders of it today".
Noting the construction of toilets has always been a male bastion, the Finance Minister in his blog said in many states, thousands of rural women have been trained as masons and with the assistance of self-help groups, they are becoming a primary force in driving the state in becoming free from open defecation.
Referring to the target of making India free from open defecation by 2019 -- the 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary -- the Finance Minister in his blog pointed to the preventive health care benefits of the scheme.
"Global experts believe the SBM will have saved over three lakh lives in the country by the time we become 'open-defecation-free' in 2019," says the blog.
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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.
