Sunny Joseph assumes charge as new president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Senior leader and three-time MLA Sunny Joseph on Monday took charge as the new president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at an event here.
In a function held at the party headquarters here, outgoing president K Sudhakaran handed over the charge of the party state unit to Joseph.
Besides Joseph, P C Vishnunath MLA, Shafi Parambil MP, and A.P. Anil Kumar MLA assumed office as working presidents of the state Congress, and Adoor Prakash MP took charge as the UDF convener during the ceremony.
Several party leaders and workers gathered at the headquarters to witness the long-awaited leadership change ahead of the upcoming crucial local body polls and the state assembly election.
Before proceeding to the KPCC headquarters, Sunny Joseph visited Congress veteran A.K. Antony at his residence here and sought his support and blessings for the new role.
Addressing reporters here later, Antony said he has complete confidence in the new team under Joseph.
He said the AICC leadership has entrusted the team with the responsibility of bringing back the Congress-led UDF into power in Kerala in the upcoming Assembly polls.
"I have complete confidence that the new team led by Joseph can fulfil their responsibility. If they can win the trust of all sections of people besides strengthening the Congress and the UDF, we can achieve a greater victory in 2026 than the party garnered in 2001," he said.
It was on May 8 that the AICC underwent a complete overhaul of the leadership in the state by replacing Sudhakaran with three-time MLA Sunny Joseph, ending weeks of uncertainty over a change of guard in the Congress party in Kerala.
Although Sudhakaran had expressed his disapproval of the move to remove him from the KPCC post, the party high command took the decision to bring in a new face ahead of the crucial elections in the state.
Sudhakaran has been made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), in a bid to balance the group equations within the party unit in Kerala.
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.
