Doctor murder: BJP activists storm Nandigram police station during protest
Kolkata (PTI): BJP activists on Friday stormed Nandigram police station in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district during a gherao programme organised in protest against the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata.
BJP supporters also staged gherao agitations at Chinsurah, Siuri, Midnapore and Bankura police stations.
Over 100 BJP supporters stormed Nandigram police station on Friday morning by breaking through barricades and scuffled with the policemen who made attempts in vain to stop them.
The protestors, of whom several were women, raised slogans inside the police station for some time, before exiting the premises.
A police officer said the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and policemen present at the spot did not take further action to prevent the situation from escalating.
The BJP activists also blocked the thoroughfare in front of the police station before dispersing.
The protest was organised as part of a statewide 'thana gherao' programme over the issue.
Nandigram, which was the epicentre of TMC's anti-land acquisition movement of 2007-08, is the turf of Suvendu Adhikari, who jumped the ship from the ruling party in the state to the BJP in 2020 and won the assembly segment in the 2021 polls by defeating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh led the demonstration in Midnapore.
"This government has lost all right to remain in office," he said.
Adhikari had on Thursday said that the gherao agitations would be "democratic and non-violent", and would voice people's disenchantment with the ruling party in the state on the issue of women's safety.
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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.
