Congress biased for marginalised, says Rahul in British Parliament
London, Aug 24 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday told the British Parliament that his party is biased towards the marginalised, the party said.
Gandhi is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the UK Parliament's Grand Committee Room, the Congress party said and added that he spoke on a range of issues, including women empowerment.
"Congress President is the first foreign opposition leader to be invited to speak at the Grand Committee Room of the UK Parliament... Other prominent speakers who have spoken here are Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev," the party said in a tweet.
Gandhi said centrepiece of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's and Congress' stand is that the party will always look to the person standing at the end of the line. "We are for everybody but we are biased to the marginalised," he said.
The Congress leader said he cannot stand someone being disrespected by someone because the person is not in power. "I will immediately stand with the person being bullied by a person in power."
Gandhi also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not allow India to express itself.
"We unify ourselves in India when we express ourselves. This is the contention I have with PM Modi. He does not let India express itself. India's strength is its diversity, that's what makes it beautiful," Gandhi 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.
