Allahabad HC dismisses plea claiming ownership of land offered for Ayodhya mosque
Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed against the allotment of land in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village for the construction of a mosque, following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
Two Delhi-based sisters had moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on February 3, claiming ownership of the five-acre land allotted to the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board for the mosque.
Appearing for the state, Additional Advocate General Ramesh Kumar Singh had opposed the plea, saying the plot numbers allotted for the mosque are different from those the petition is filed about.
On Monday, justices D K Upadhyay and Manish Kumar dismissed the plea after the petitioners' lawyer, H G S Parihar, sought to withdraw it. The bench also expressed concerns with Parihar for filing the petition in a cursory manner without ascertaining the facts.
Rani Kapoor, alias Rani Baluja, and Rama Rani Punjabi had said in the writ petition that their father Gyan Chandra Punjabi had come to India during partition in 1947 from Punjab and settled in Faizabad (now Ayodhya) district.
They claimed that their father was allotted 28-acre land in Dhannipur village by the Nazul Department for five years which he continued to possess beyond that period. Later, his name was included in the revenue records, the petitioners had said.
However, his name was struck down from the records against which their father filed an appeal before the Additional Commissioner, Ayodhya, which was allowed, they claimed.
The petitioners further claimed that the consolidation officer again removed their father's name from the records during consolidation proceedings.
Against the order of the consolidation officer, an appeal was preferred before the Settlement Officer of Consolidation, Sadar, Ayodhya, but without considering the said petition, the authorities allotted five-acre of their 28-acre land to the Waqf Board for the constructing of mosque, they said.
The petitioners demanded that the authorities be restrained from transferring the land to the Sunni Waqf Board till the pendency of dispute before the settlement officer.
The state government has allotted five-acre land to the Sunni Waqf Board in Dhannipur village for construction of a mosque in compliance with Supreme Court direction in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri mosque title suit.
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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.
