CM Bommai defends move to colour code 'Viveka' school classrooms in saffron
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday defended the government's move to paint the thousands of school classrooms to be constructed under the newly launched 'Viveka' scheme with saffron colour.
Under the 'Viveka' scheme named after Swami Vivekananda, the Karnataka government has proposed construction of 7,601 classrooms across the state.
Bommai launched the scheme on Children's Day by laying the foundation stone in Government Higher Primary School at Madiyal in Kalaburagi district.
Asked to comment about the move of colour coding such classrooms with saffron that has sparked controversy, the Chief Minister said: "What's wrong to have saffron colour? There's saffron colour in the (national) tricolour. Swami Vivekananda himself used to wear saffron robe".
"They (Congress) aren't interested in comprehensive development of education," Bommai charged.
He said there is a tendency to create controversy on any progressive changes made.
"Naming schools after Swami Vivekananda will help children draw inspiration from him and a good atmosphere will be created in schools," the Chief Minister opined.
School Education Minister B C Nagesh said if architects recommend to the government that saffron colour looks good on such classrooms, it will be done.
"We have left the decision to architects. The government does not decide on what kind of paint, window, door and steps (are to be done). We will take a decision on what they (architects) say," Nagesh said.
"Some people have allergy towards (saffron) colour," he said.
Taking a dig at the Congress, the minister said: "I want to ask them, there is saffron colour in their (party) flag. Why did you keep it? Remove it," Nagesh 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.
