Farmers at Ghazipur plant flowers in response to 'iron nails'
Noida (UP), Feb 5: Farmers at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Friday planted flower saplings along a road stretch, saying it was their response to "iron nails" fixed in the area by the police.
Stringent security measures like multi-layered barricading, concertina wires, had come up along with iron nails cemented on roads around the protest site in the wake of the January 26 violence in Delhi.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said, "The police had fixed iron nails for farmers but we have decided to plant flowers for them."
Rows of marigold flowers have come up near the barricading only in a "symbolic gesture" but a relatively bigger plantation drive was underway on a road stretch nearby, BKU media incharge Dharmendra Malik said.
"A flower garden is being created on the Delhi-Dabur Tiraha road. This will cover the dirt lying on road stretches, and also emanate fragrance and improve the environment around," Malik said.
Farmers, who are getting the flower saplings from nearby nurseries, said they were on the path of "peaceful" demonstration.
Farmers, including those from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, are camping in temporary tarpaulin-roofed shelters, while many have their tractor-trailers double up as their resting place that have come up on a stretch of the Delhi-Meerut highway.
Besides Ghazipur, thousands of farmers are protesting at Tikri and Singh on Delhi's outskirts since November 2020 with a demand that the government repeal the new agri-marketing laws believing they would hurt their livelihood.
The government, which has held at least 11 rounds of formal talks with the representatives of the protesting farmer unions, has maintained that the laws enacted last September are pro-farmer.
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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.
