All-party meeting be called but parties must attend only if PM participates: Kapil Sibal
New Delhi, May 11 (PTI): With India and Pakistan agreeing to halt military actions, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday demanded that an-all party meeting be called while urging political parties not to attend it until the government assures that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present there.
Sibal also demanded a special session of Parliament and asserted that he was confident that if Manmohan Singh had been the prime minister today, he would be present in the all-party meeting, and a special session would have been called too.
Addressing a press conference here, Sibal referred to US President Donald Trump's latest social media post on stoppage of military hostilities in which the American president said that he is proud that the US was able to help arrive at this "historic and heroic decision".
"Many questions will be raised on this tweet as well. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that for the last 48 hours talks went on. So what happened, how and why, no information has been given to us regarding this.They also stated that there will be a meeting at a neutral site. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi also spoke with NSA Ajit Dowal," Sibal said.
"We will not issue any criticism today because this is not the time for criticism. We only want a special Parliament session and an all-party meeting to be called. I want to appeal to all political parties not to attend the meeting until the government assures them that the prime minister will be present at the meeting as well," Sibal said.
"I am confident that if Dr Manmohan Singh had been the prime minister today, he would be present in the all-party meeting, and a special session would have been called too," the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said.
He said MPs can't wait till the Monsoon session for getting details on what has transpired in the last few days.
Sibal said he did not like it when Prime Minister Modi did not participate in the all-party meeting that was held after the Pahalgam terror attack.
"Maybe he (Modi) thought Bihar elections were more important. He also went to Bollywood, Kerala, he thinks that whenever such an incident takes place, no matter what happens in Manipur, it is not necessary to go there," Sibal said.
The former Congress leader hailed the armed forces for giving a befitting reply to Pakistan.
The country in one voice asserted that enough is enough and a reply should be given to Pakistan, he said.
His remarks came after India and Pakistan on Saturday reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions on land, air and sea, with immediate effect after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
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.
