Kolkata, Nov 16: Professor Anju Seth became the first woman director of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) in the five decades of its existence.

Professor Seth is an alumni of IIM-C and has most recently held the position of Pamplin Professor of Management at Virginia Tech, USA, the institute said in a statement Friday.

Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she was professor of business administration at the University of Illinois. She has received numerous awards for her teaching and research.

IIM-C board chairperson Shrikrishna Kulkarni said, "We are indeed delighted that Anju will be the first woman director of the IIM-C. She was the unanimous choice of the Search-cum-Selection Committee and the Board of Governors."

She completed her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has a distinguished academic career spanning over 25 years.

She is on the editorial board of many scholarly journals.

Professor Anju Seth said, "It is an honour and privilege to be appointed to serve IIM-Calcutta in the position of Director. I look forward to working with faculty, staff, students, Governors and all other stakeholders to build on the Institutes strong foundations and accomplish new heights of eminence.

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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.