Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi? Priyanka Gandhi quips
Rae Bareli (UP), Mar 29: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has thrown a hint that she is not averse to taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his own Lok Sabha constituency.
"Shouldn't I fight from Varanasi?" Vadra said when a party worker asked her to contest from Rae Bareli, according to a participant at the meeting.
During a visit to Rae Bareli, the constituency of her mother, Sonia Gandhi, Vadra held meetings with party leaders and workers late into Thursday night and faced fresh demands for entering the electoral battle from the constituency.
On Wednesday, in a brief interaction with the media in Amethi, the constituency of her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Vadra had said she would contest the election if the party wants her to do so.
At the Bhueymau guest house in RaeBareli on Thursday, the Congress incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh had asked the party workers to highlight among the people the alleged failures and failed promises of the Modi government.
There is no dearth of issues for the Congress. Workers have to go among the people, Vadra told the party workers who had come from all the assembly segments, as well as the workers of the Jan Adhikar Party, the grand old party's alliance partner.
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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.
