Rahul flays Centre over arrest of activists
New Delhi, Aug 28 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday flayed the Modi government over raids and arrest of rights activists and said it wanted all NGOs to shut except the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
"There is place only for one NGO in India -- it's called the RSS. Shut all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the New India," Gandhi said in a tweet.
Pune Police on Tuesday said it had arrested five human rights activists and alleged Maoist sympathisers, including Left ideologue Varavara Rao, in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima riots in Maharashtra on January 1.
The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Haryana.
Those arrested include Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, and Gautam Navlakha.
Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy said: "I condemn the arrests in qualified terms. No human rights activist should be arrested, for that matter no Indian can be arrested without a proper case."
Reddy said that he defended the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protestors. "They are selfless NGOs, activists. They are obliged to fight in the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencie."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
