Round The States
New Delhi, 2 June 2011
Immunisation
Programme
STATES ABYSMAL
RECORD
By Insaf
All is not well with the country’s immunization programme in
majority of the States. As a result, the Centre has decided to monitor its operation.
The States will now have to report the success of their immunization project to
the Union Health Ministry. This follows newspaper reports of the abysmal
immunization programme undertaken by the States, wherein last year alone 128
children died after vaccination. Of these deaths, 28 were reported in Maharashtra, 18 in Uttar Pradesh and 11 in Andhra
Pradesh. This is not all. The Ministry will soon have a system in place to
track and verify children who are vaccinated across the States. To ensure that
the State Government’s fall in line they now have to send data of not only
vaccinated children but also the mothers’ names, addresses and phone numbers. A
call centre to verify the same is also on the anvil. Most scandalously, it was
found that the monies sent by the Centre were not spent on the immunization
programme. It remains to be seen whether this monitoring system will help bring
down India’s
appalling infant mortality rate.
* * * *
Assam’s Hangmen
Shortage
Assam’s convicts on the death row have
got a breather. This, despite their mercy petitions being turned down by
President Pratibha Patil. It so happens that there is an acute shortage of
hangmen in the State. The last time a man was hanged in Assam was over
two decades ago in 1990. Even then the hangman had to be brought from Uttar
Pradesh as the North
Eastern State
is devoid of such persons. Presently,
the Gogoi Government has now written to neighbouring West
Bengal authorities and other States to find out if they can
oblige. In the meantime, in Punjab the
Congress and the Akali Dal are on the same side of the coin demanding the PM’s
intervention in awarding a life term to Khalistan militant Bhullar instead of the
death penalty. Clearly, both the Parties intend milking this issue in the next Assembly
elections due in 2012.
* * * *
Mizoram’s Border
Scam
Mizoram’s border management project has hit a shocking road
block. Recently, the Comptroller & Auditor General has unearthed a major scam
in this project, which is designed to reach development in India’s border with Bangladesh
& Myanmar.
Scandalously, over Rs 46.76 crore was withdrawn from the treasury against false
bills without even commencement of work between 2005 and 2010 -- during the
Mizo National Front and Congress regimes. Predictable was the State Government’s
response: “We have not studied the CAG report so far!” Importantly, the funds
for development programmes in the border areas are provided as special Central
assistance on a 100 per cent grant basis. These are primarily meant to improve
life in inhospitable terrains and to check local support for insurgent groups
and foreign spies. With the ISI active in Bangladesh along with its gun
runners, the Centre had hoped the project would help scale down insurgency.
Instead the funds have been pocketed by the bureaucrat-private suppliers’ nexus.
How then will our borders be safe?
* * * *
Solar Energy In
Naxal States
Solar energy is being viewed as a panacea to the villagers
in Maoist-hit States. With its ding-dong battle with the Maoists making no
headway, the Centre proposes to take the help of the Union Renewable Energy
Ministry to ease the villagers’ misery at least on one front. It proposes to light
up villages with solar power as the ‘red brigade’ has successfully been destroying
transmission towers in rural areas. The project is to be taken up in over 31
revenue villages of 60 districts and will be implemented under the remote
village electrification plan. All villages would be provided with 50 solar
lanterns and chargers at a subsidy of 90 per cent. Shockingly, three States — Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa, where many of such villages lie,
still grope in the darkness. Along with this nearly 2,000 mobile towers are to
be set up in nine Left-wing districts. Fingers are crossed that this plan will soften
the blow of the dreaded Maoists attacks in these districts.
* * * *
Farmers Agitate In
7 States
Farmers in the country’s seven Eastern States are unhappy.
As the Centre's initiative to extend green revolution to them vis-à-vis a minimum support price (MSP)
for paddy and wheat has come a cropper. Thanks
to the respective State Governments, namely West Bengal, eastern Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Assam refusing to offer the procurement
price to the farmers. To get the de-faulting States to agree, the Union
Agriculture Ministry intends reasoning and hopes better sense prevails and the
farmers get their dues. It has decided to hold a meeting with the ministries of
food, water resources, power and financial services to resolve the problem. Else
it would upset the apple-cart of the country's overall food production.
* * * *
Gujarat Governor Returns
Bill
On the heels of Karnataka Governor, now it is the turn of his
counterpart in Gujarat to turn the heat on the
Narendra Modi led-BJP Government in the State. The Governor, Kamla Beniwal has
returned the Gujarat Lokayukta Bill passed by the Assembly during the last
Budget session. Recall, the Bill was introduced to amend Section 2 of the
Lokayukta Act 1986 to bring the office bearers of local bodies under the ambit
of the Lokayukta. At present, only the Chief Ministers, Deputy Chief Minister,
Ministers and Chairman of Corporations, Universities Vice Chancellors and public
servants come under its purview. The Governor’s reason: The amendment would
divert the purpose of the original Act which was to be a watchdog on the
highest Constitutional public servants of the State. By adding the office
bearers from panchayats and
municipalities the Lokayukta would be unable to concentrate on his work. This
is not all. Governor is reportedly sitting on five other Bills including the
Gujarat Regularisation of Unauthorised Development Bill, 2011. All eyes are on
the Governor’s next move.
* * * *
J&K’s World
Record
Strife-torn Kashmir is to
notch up a world record. The highest railway bridge, five times the height of Delhi’s Qutub Minar and 35 m taller than Paris’
Eiffel Tower
is soon to come up over the Chenab River in the Kashmir Valley.
Costing Rs 5000 crore, the bridge will be constructed by the Konkan Railway
Corporation, which is eager to do one better than France’s Tang river bridge,
so far the world’s tallest bridge. At
the same time, considering the inaccessible terrain of the Himalayas,
and the threat of terrorists, the Government is leaving nothing to chance and
has deployed Railway Police Protection Force to provide security to engineers
and workers on the site. Fortunately, so far only two incidents of terrorists
targeting the project have been unearthed. There is no gainsaying that the
Government hopes that this will bridge the hearts and minds of the misled youth
and separatists in the troubled State. ----- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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