Central agencies did not come calling when Bal Thackeray criticised Rajiv: Uddhav at Cong event
Mumbai, Aug 20: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that despite being bitter rivals in the past, the undivided Shiv Sena and Congress were never vindictive towards each other.
Speaking at a 'Sadbhavana Diwas' event here to mark the birth anniversary of the late Rajiv Gandhi, Thackeray also noted that Central agencies never harassed Shiv Sena leaders even though party founder Bal Thackeray had criticised the then prime minister in his speeches.
Thackeray, who joined hands with the Congress in 2019 after parting ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party, took part in a Congress event for the first time. He also wore a Congress scarf for a brief time.
The programme was also attended by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Pawar said it was unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi harbours a grudge against the Nehru-Gandhi family whose four generations have toiled for the country.
"No one can erase the contributions of (former prime minister Jawaharlal) Nehru and his family from the country's contribution," Pawar said.
Describing Rajiv Gandhi as a civilised man, Thackeray said despite having a brute majority of more than 400 seats in 1984, he brought in legislation to strengthen the Panchayati Raj and decentralise power.
He said Rajiv Gandhi did not put his photo on inoculation certificates despite carrying out vaccination programmes at such a large scale, in an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was criticised for having his images on COVID-19 vaccine certificates.
"Shiv Sena and Congress were bitter opponents, but they never acted with vindictiveness towards each other," Thackeray said.
"Sena chief Bal Thackeray harshly criticised Rajiv Gandhi (when he was PM) but at no point I recall CBI, ED or Income Tax knocking on the doors of Shiv Sena leaders," he said, taking a veiled swipe at the BJP-led Union government.
Opposition often accuses the Narendra Modi government of misusing Central investigation agencies against its political opponents.
Thackeray said Rajiv Gandhi never shied away from tackling challenges and took on them boldly, referring to the steps the former prime minister had initiated to deal with the militancy in Punjab and northeast India.
"But (now the attitude is) let Manipur and Kashmir burn," he said.
Thackeray also accused the BJP of resorting to "power jihad".
The Opposition managed to reduce the BJP-led alliance's strength in the Lok Sabha in the general elections, he said and called for the defeat of the ruling Mahayuti in the coming assembly elections in Maharashtra.
The BJP accused him of abandoning Hindutva for the sake of aligning with the Congress even though the saffron party didn't mind joining hands with JD (U) chief Nitish Kumar and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu (who have different ideologies), Thackeray 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.
