UP: Woman with three children converts, marries Class 12 student in Amroha
Amroha (UP), Apr 9 (PTI): A 30-year-old woman with three children converted to Hinduism and married a 12th-grade student in a temple ceremony in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha district on Wednesday, police officials said.
According to Hasanpur Circle Officer Deep Kumar Pant, the woman, Shivani, was previously known as Shabnam. She has no living parents and has been married twice before.
UP is a state which has an anti-conversion law in place. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 bars religious conversion through force, deceit or any other fraudulent means.
Police said they are currently reviewing the circumstances surrounding the marriage, but no legal complaints have been filed so far.
The circle officer said that Shivani first married a man in Meerut, but the marriage ended in divorce. She then married Taufiq, a resident of Saidanwali village, who was left disabled after a road accident in 2011.
Recently, she developed a relationship with a boy in Class 12 and aged around 18. Subsequently, Shabnam sought and obtained a divorce from Taufiq on Friday last week. Later, she converted to Hinduism and adopted the name Shivani.
Shiva's father, Dataram Singh, a Saidanwali resident, told reporters that he supports his son's decision and that the family is happy if the couple is happy. "We only hope that both live together peacefully," he said.
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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.
