Rahul Gandhi unlikely to attend Parliament's winter session due to Bharat Jodo Yatra
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to attend the upcoming winter session of Parliament due to the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, the party said on Saturday.
The winter session of Parliament is likely to commence in the first week of December in the old building and conclude by the end of the month, sources had said on Friday.
There is a proposal to hold the session between December 7 and 29 and a final decision regarding the dates will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, they had said.
Asked whether party MPs participating in the yatra will attend the session, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh told reporters that it is unlikely that he and three other parliamentarians -- Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, Digvijaya Singh -- who are walking in the yatra consistently would attend Parliament.
Ramesh said they would inform the Speaker and the Chairman accordingly that they would not be able to attend the upcoming session.
He said the yatra, which has completed about half the 3,570 km distance, is seeing massive enthusiasm in Maharashtra currently and several allies of the Congress are participating in it.
Nationalist Congress Party leaders Supriya Sule, Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad joined the yatra and so did Shiv Sena's Aaditya Thackeray, Ramesh said, asserting that this reflected that the Maha Vikas Aghadi combine was intact.
He said the yatra is likely to enter Madhya Pradesh on November 22.
Talking about the sub-yatras, Ramesh said while Odisha became the first state to begin a yatra simultaneously with the main yatra on October 31, Assam was next to join starting a more than 850-km-long yatra on November 1.
On the birth anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi on November 19, the party's Tripura unit will begin a yatra, Ramesh said.
On December 28, the West Bengal Congress will begin a Bharat Jodo Yatra in its state, he said.
Also in the next fortnight or so, the Congress will take out a Bharat Jodo Yatra in Bihar from Banka to Bodh Gaya, covering an estimated 1,100 km, Ramesh 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.
