Haryana farmer's body found hanging from tree near Tikri border protest site, leaves suicide note
'No one knows when these black farm laws will be rolled back'
Chandigarh, Feb 7: A farmer from Jind in Haryana who was supporting the agitation against the Centre's farm laws allegedly hanged himself from a tree merely two kilometres from the Tikri border protest site on Sunday, police said.
The 52-year-old farmer left a suicide note, which is being verified, they said.
"The farmer, Karamveer Singh, hailed from a village in Jind. He was found hanging from a tree in a park, which is around two kilometres away from the Tikri border," Bahadurgarh City police station SHO Vijay Kumar said.
His body was found in the morning, he said.
According to the police, the hand-written suicide note purportedly left behind by the deceased said, "Dear farmer brethren, Modi government is giving date after date... No one knows when these black farm laws will be rolled back."
Over a fortnight ago, another farmer from Haryana had allegedly consumed a poisonous substance at the Tikri border. He died during treatment at a Delhi hospital later.
In December, a lawyer from Punjab had allegedly killed himself by consuming poison a few kilometres away from the protest site at the Tikri border.
Earlier, a Sikh preacher, Sant Ram Singh, had also allegedly ended his life near the Singhu border protest site, claiming that he was "unable to bear the pain of the farmers".
Thousands of farmers have been protesting since late November 2020 at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, demanding a rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.
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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.
