Agarkar applies for national selector's job, frontrunner for chairman's post, Prasad in running too
New Delhi, Jan 24: Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar on Friday entered the race for the national selector's job and is a frontrunner for the chairman's post.
Agarkar confirmed to PTI that he has applied for the national selector's position.
Agarkar, who is a former chairman of Mumbai senior selection committee, is in contention for the chairman's post as the new constitution doesn't have provisions for zonal system.
It can also be confirmed that former India medium pacer and junior chairman of selectors Venkatesh Prasad has once again applied for senior selector's post although he has only around one and half years of his cumulative term left.
With BCCI setting January 24 as the deadline for sending applications, the 42-year-old Agarkar is certainly the most high-profile name with 26 Tests, 191 ODIs and 3 T20 Internationals, picking 349 wickets across formats.
Agarkar remains India's third highest wicket-taker in ODIs (with 288 scalps) behind Anil Kumble (334 wickets) and Javagal Srinath (315 wickets). One of the fastest bowlers during his time, Agarkar was quickest to 50 wickets, reaching the feat in only 23 games.
"Ajit entering the fray is an interesting development. He is someone who would have put in a lot of thought before applying. If anyone thought that Siva's nomination as a chairman of selectors is a given, will now think again. It will be every interesting to see who all are short-listed," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
With West Zone's Jatin Paranjpe still having a year left, will BCCI accommodate two national selectors from Mumbai in case Agarkar manages to impress the yet to be formed Cricket Advisory Committee.
"The BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on the first day had spoken about transparency. If the intent is correct and the heart is in right place, why do we need to have zonal biases and follow the convention?" the official asked.
Apart from Agarkar and Sivaramakrishnan, the other prominent names to have applied include Nayan Mongia, Chetan Sharma, Rajesh Chauhan.
List of notable former cricketers who have applied
Ajit Agarkar (Mumbai)
Venkatesh Prasad (Karnataka)
Chetan Sharma (Haryana)
Nayan Mongia (Baroda)
Laxman Sivaramakrishnan (Tamil Nadu)
Rajesh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh)
Amey Khurasiya (Madhya Pradesh)
Gyanendra Pandey (UP, not eligible as completed 4 years as JR selector)
Pritam Gandhe (Vidarbha, has already served term as Jr Natl selector).
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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.
