Sensitise male staff on female colleagues' dignity: Maneka to Air India
New Delhi, Aug 24 : Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Friday requested Air India (AI) to sensitize its male employees so that the women employees do not feel threatened or insecure in any manner.
Gandhi's reaction came after she reviewed the progress of cases of sexual harassment in Air India.
In May this year, an Air India employee wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu alleging sexual harassment by a senior executive. Later, Gandhi also stepped in and asked the AI head of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to complete the inquiry.
The Minister also met officials from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Civil Aviation Ministry and the airline's CMD, and urged the staff of various airlines, both public and private, to remain sensitive to the dignity of women colleagues.
The Ministry further added that many more cases of sexual harassment pertaining to private airlines too have emerged which have been forwarded to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
"Along with the cases of sexual harassment, some women employees also tend to file complaints of administrative nature under the garb of sexual harassment. It is important for the ICC to very quickly dispose of these cases," Gandhi 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.
