NCP's lone MLA in Gujarat resigns after ticket denial
Porbandar (PTI): The Nationalist Congress Party's lone Gujarat MLA Kandhal Jadeja resigned from the party on Monday after it denied him a ticket for the upcoming state Assembly polls.
Jadeja had filed his nomination on November 11 despite not having a mandate from the party.
He won from Kutiyana seat in Porbandar district in 2012 and 2017 on the NCP's ticket, but this time the seat has been kept out of the Congress-NCP alliance.
Elections for the 182-member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. In the first phase, voting will be held in 89 seats, including Kutiyana, while voting for the remaining 93 seats will be held on December 5.
In the last Assembly polls, Jadeja had defeated candidates of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress as the NCP had not entered into an alliance with the Congress.
In a letter to Gujarat NCP chief Jayant Patel aka Jayant Boskey on Monday, Jadeja said he is resigning from all the party posts and primary membership as he has been denied the ticket this time.
On November 11, the NCP and the Gujarat Congress entered into a pre-poll alliance, as part of which the Sharad Pawar-led party will contest three seats - Umreth in Anand district, Naroda in Ahmedabad and Devgadh Baria in Dahod district - currently held by the BJP.
The same day, Jadeja filed his nomination papers for Kutiyana seat claiming he had the permission to do so from NCP's national vice president Praful Patel.
He had also exuded confidence that he would get the party's mandate afterwards.
After the seat agreement announcement, the Congress had fielded Natha Odedara from Kutiyana, as the seat was not a part of the alliance.
Speculations are rife that Jadeja may now contest the election as an independent or submit a mandate of some other party as Monday is the last day to file nomination for the first phase of state polls to be held on December 1.
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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.
