PMO facilitated Choksi's escape, alleges Congress
New Delhi, Aug 28 : Calling it the biggest cover-up by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Congress on Tuesday alleged that despite the PMO being aware of the financial irregularities and pending complaints against PNB scam-accused Mehul Choksi, it "facilitated" his escape.
"Connivance of the PMO led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the escape of Rs 23,484-crore PNB scam accused-Mehul Choksi is now out in the open," said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera in a statement.
"Ten months before he fled India, Mehul Choksi visited the Mumbai passport office in early 2017, to obtain a clearance, which certified there was no adverse information against him," he added.
Khera said: "Serious proofs have come to light to show that 'every concerned agency was aware about the serious complaints pending against the runaway diamond trader'.
"This has been conceded by none other than Prime Minister's Office on August 3 2017," he added.
Khera also said: "Antigua and Barbabos Prime Minister Gaston Browne, in an interview to a major television channel on July 27 had said that the Indian government has not approached them on fugitive diamond jeweller Choksi, who has secured citizenship of the Caribbean country."
"It is important to note that Modi had met Gaston Browne in April 2018, but did not raise the issue of Mehul Choksi's citizenship," he added.
The party said that it has been a matter of record that the Ministry of External Affairs wrote to the PMO seeking information on Mehul Choksi.
"The letter seeks to know if charges were pending against fraudster Mehul Choksi during approval of citizenship request for which the latter applied in early 2017 in Mumbai," said Khera.
Khera also said: "PMO's reply to MEA's letter is now in public domain. The letter August 3, 2017, was addressed to the Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.
"Not surprisingly, the biggest cover-up ever, the PMO admits that complaints were received by it from public domain regarding huge financial irregularities tantamount to crime.
"Even the PMO on record had admitted that Finance Ministry, Home Ministry, CBI Director, ED, SFIO had forwarded the complaints on Choksi's frauds. This also shows that PMO was aware about Mehul Choksi's financial wrongdoings and maintained a suspicious silence," he added.
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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.
