Will soon constitute committee to amicably resolve grievances of farmers for all times: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would soon constitute a multi-member committee to amicably resolve the grievances of farmers "for all times".
A bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, which posted the matter for further hearing on September 2, asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to give tentative issues concerning farmers to the committee.
The Punjab government informed the top court that in compliance with the August 12 order of the apex court, they held a meeting with the protesting farmers in which they had agreed to partially open the blocked highway.
The bench asked the Punjab and Haryana governments to keep engaging with protesting farmers and persuade them to remove their tractors and trollies from the highway.
On August 12, the top court asked the Punjab government to persuade the farmers protesting at the Shambhu border since February 13 to remove tractors and trollies from the road, saying that "highways are not parking space".
The court was hearing the Haryana government's plea challenging the high court's order asking it to remove within a week the barricades erected at the Shambhu border near Ambala where protesting farmers have been camping since February 13.
The Haryana government had set up barricades on the Ambala-New Delhi national highway in February after the 'Samyukta Kisan Morcha' (Non-Political) and 'Kisan Mazdoor Morcha' announced that farmers would march to Delhi in support of their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
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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.
