Ready to join others to form panchayat boards: Bengal BJP
Kolkata, Aug 26 : West Bengal's BJP unit on Sunday said the party was ready to join hands with other political outfits in the state at the grass roots level to stop the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from forming gram panchayat boards.
Accusing the TMC of intimidating their winning candidates in the state rural body elections, state Bharatiya Janata Party President Dilip Ghosh said the BJP has decided to work together with other state opposition parties to form boards in all the hung panchayat boards.
"The BJP will form the panchayat boards wherever we have the majority. Even in most of the hung bodies, the panchayat boards are being formed with our support. We have decided to join hands with rest of the political parties if necessary, to keep Trinamool away from power," Ghosh told the media here.
"The Trinamool is trying to intimidate our winning candidates in several places to make them switch to their party. Police and local administration is not taking any action against the miscreants. But the common people who have voted for us, do not want Trinamool to form the panchayat boards."
TMC had swept the rural body elections in May by winning more than 20,000 gram panchayat seats while the BJP emerged as a distant second with close to 6,000 seats.
The saffron outfit, however, managed to perform well in two western districts -- Purulia and Jhargram.
Ghosh claimed that his party will be able to form at least 300 panchayat boards in its own capacity.
"The BJP will form close to 300 panchayat boards, based on its own calibre. At least 100 other boards can be formed with our support elsewhere in the state," 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.
