Maharashtra: Congress MP Vasant Chavan passes away
Nanded (PTI): Congress MP Vasant Chavan passed away on Monday at a private hospital in Hyderabad after prolonged illness, party sources said.
Chavan (69) breathed his last at the hospital around 4 am, the sources said. He was undergoing treatment for renal issues there since last week.
The Congress veteran had won the Nanded Lok Sabha seat this year despite ill health and big desertions, including that of former CM Ashok Chavan, who joined BJP ahead of the polls.
Soon after the Lok Sabha election results were out, Vasant Chavan had thanked Ashok Chavan for defecting to BJP.
In the Lok Sabha election, Vasant Chavan defeated sitting BJP MP Pratap Patil Chikhalikar by 59,442 votes, overcoming issues like a weakened party after Ashok Chavan defected to BJP just before the elections and his own personal health problems.
Born in Naigaon in Nanded district, Vasant Chavan was a gram panchayat member for a long time and later became a zilla parishad member in 1990 and 2002.
He was elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Council in 2002 and became a member of the state legislative assembly from Naigaon assembly seat. He was an MLA from 2009 to 2014.
He was also the chairman of Nanded District Central Cooperative Bank from 2021 to 2023.
His last rites will be performed in Naigaon at 11 am, the sources 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.
