Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba gets Union berth
Bengaluru, Jul 7: Bhagwanth Khuba, a two time Lok Sabha member, hails from the politically dominant Lingayat community which the BJP considers as its key vote base in north Karnataka.
His induction into the Union ministry on Wednesday is being seen as a move to fill up Lingayat representation in the cabinet that had fallen vacant following the death of Suresh Angadi, due to COVID-19 in September last year, who was serving as Minister of State for Railways.
An engineering graduate, Khuba (54), was involved in a family business and had never fought an election before he entered the Lok Sabha in 2014, by defeating political giant from the region, Congress veteran and former Chief Minister late N Dharam Singh in Bidar segment.
He again won the seat in 2019, by defeating another Congress heavyweight in the region Eshwar B Khandre. The fight against the two Lingayat leaders in the community's bastion was keenly watched.
Born on June 1, 1967 at Aurad in Bidar, he obtained B.E. (Mech.) from Sree Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru.
He is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways.
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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.
