Siddaramaiah govt most unpopular in Karnataka's history, says state BJP chief BY Vijayendra
Bengaluru, Feb 5: Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra criticised the Congress government on Monday over the allegedly worsening financial situation in the state and accused the Siddaramaiah administration of shirking its responsibility while "unnecessarily" blaming the BJP-led Centre for its woes.
Vijayendra raised two issues in particular, one to do with an incentive scheme for farmers and the other over the development funds of MLAs.
He said the government has stopped an incentive scheme for dairy farmers launched by the earlier BJP dispensation headed by B S Yediyurappa. Speaking to reporters here, he said the milk producers are owed a total of Rs 700 crore, the payment of which has been pending for the past few months.
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Citing the drought in the state, Vijayendra demanded that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who holds charge of the finance ministry, immediately release the dues to the distressed dairy farmers. "Otherwise farmers along with cattle...will come to the streets and protest against the state's Congress government," he warned.
"Is it not the responsibility of the state government to come to the rescue of the farmers during drought," he asked, slamming the Congress leaders for "trying to escape" from their responsibility by "unnecessarily blaming the Central government and (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji on every occasion".
On the issue of MLAs' development funds, he alleged that not a single rupee has been released by the government. "The financial position...of the state is worsening day by day," he claimed, remarking that "this is the most unpopular state government in the history of Karnataka."
Vijayendra also alleged that Dalits in the state are in distress as the government has diverted the "entire funds of Rs 11,600 crore", meant for their welfare, to other programmes. "And today the Congress is blaming BJP and Modiji. It's the utter failure of the chief minister and Congress government," he alleged.
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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.
