Mazagon Dock rebuilding Kerala anganwadis
Thiruvalla (Kerala) Aug 26 : Officials from the Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL) were working overtime to make sure that water-logged anganwadis in the worst affected Kerala districts were getting cleaned up, a company executive said here on Sunday.
Led by former naval captain Ramesh Babu, seven officials from MDSL, representatives of the 15th Kerala Battalion, NCC and volunteers of the Mar Thoma College have cleaned up more than a dozen anganwadis and a few schools in the state's central districts of Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta.
The Logistics Skill Council of India has provided the transportation arrangements of the MSDL team. MSDL had first started this initiative in Kozhikode. It donated Rs 1 lakh and over 200 kits comprising all the cleaning materials.
"But later we realised that it was the central districts that needed more attention. We arrived here on August 16 and have been engaged in the cleaning operations ever since," said Babu, presently a General Manager at MDSL.
He said their main aim was to clean up all the anganwadis but were flooded with calls from various organisations to clean up schools also.
"We have agreed that we will support them, but on condition that when these organisations clean up the schools, they should clean the nearest anganwadi too," added Babu.
The Gujarat and Nasik Malayalee Associations have sent the ration for these anganwadis. Ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala since May 29, a total of 417 people have died.
This month, unprecedented floods caused widespread destruction and forced more than a million people to flee their homes to take shelter in relief centres.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday evening said over 6.05 lakh people were still sheltered in 1,822 camps.
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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.
