Three trampled to death by wild elephants in Jharkhand's Ramgarh
Ramgarh (PTI): Three persons, including an elderly man, were trampled to death by wild elephants in two separate incidents in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district on Friday, police said.
Both incidents happened within the Gola police station limits. One incident occurred at Banda village, where two persons died, while the second took place at Murpa village, where an elderly man was trampled to death by wild elephants, they said.
"Three people were killed by wild elephants on Friday at two different locations. All three were male. The bodies of the deceased have been recovered and are being sent for post-mortem examination at a government hospital," Officer in-charge of Gola police station, Abhishek Kumar, told PTI.
The deceased have been identified as Dheeraj Kumar (26) of Talatand in Patratu, Jugal Bhuiyan (30) of Murpa village, and Samdev Saw (73) of Murpa village, another police officer said.
"We have provided Rs 25,000 each to the victims' families as immediate relief, while the rest of the compensation will be given after completion of some official formalities," said DFO, Ramgarh, Nitish Kumar.
The Jharkhand government provides Rs 4 lakh as compensation in case of death caused by an elephant.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
