Student absenteeism in Maharashtra turns hurdle in measles-rubella vaccination drive

The state education department on Thursday asked officials across the state to address student absenteeism during the measles-rubella (MR) vaccination drive, as per the Centre’s directives, which started on November 27 to ensure 100% coverage across all schools.
‘It has been observed that in some schools, students are absent on the day of vaccination. Officials should ensure that awareness should be created in such schools where parents should be told about the need for vaccination to ensure 100% coverage,’ stated a recent circular.
Dr Chandrashekhar Chiplunkar, assistant health officer, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said of the 5,98,687 children who were supposed to be vaccinated as on December 6, 4,29,994 (71.8%) were vaccinated.
“Initially, some schools and parent bodies refused to take part, but after a number of parent-teacher meetings by our health officials, they finally agreed to take part in the vaccination programme. Still, even now after sending updates of date and time of the vaccination, we found more than 28% are yet to be vaccinated owing to several reasons such as absenteeism and no consent from parents,” he added.
When asked him about the plan of action , he said they will try and convince the parents about benefits of vaccination. “Vaccination isn’t mandatory but it’s essential. We will keep trying to convince parents and teachers about its benefits in order to achieve our target of 30 lakh children across the city.”
Arundhati Chavan, president of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) united forum said many parents have not been sensitised well. “The corporation should ensure that well-trained officials who can address all queries of parents are deployed,” said Chavan.
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Pillars carved in Ayodhya to be used first in Ram temple construction
LUCKNOW Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust will first use carved pillars and stone slabs from the VHP's workshop in Ayodhya for the construction of the main structure of Ram temple in the first phase starting from June 1. The temple construction committee said that June 1 is an auspicious date according to the Hindu religious calendar. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had relocated Ram Lalla from the tent in Ram Janmabhoomi to the makeshift temple on March 25, 2020.
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Ajay Kothiyal, AAP's Uttarakhand CM candidate, joins BJP in Dehradun
The Aam Aadmi Party's chief ministerial candidate for the recently concluded Assembly election in Uttarakhand, retired colonel Ajay Kothiyal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of CM Pushkar Singh Dhami in Dehradun. Kothiyal had resigned from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party last week. In March this year, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Uttarakhand as it bagged 47 seats, 11 more than the required majority in the 70-seat assembly.
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Haryana municipal polls on June 19
Election to the state's 28 municipal committees and 18 municipal councils will be held on June 19 and the results will be declared on June 22, Haryana's State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh announced on Monday. Candidates can withdraw their candidature until June 7 from 11am to 3pm. Election symbols will be allotted to the candidates on the same day.
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Gurugram cops implement new plan to tackle traffic amid heavy rain
The traffic police on Monday devised a new plan to manage congestion across the city during the monsoon and to ensure timely action by deploying teams at all key points with motors to pump out water before commuters could get stuck, unlike previous years when they would reach these spots after receiving reports of congestion. Police said that on Monday they had to remove accumulated water from major traffic intersections to allow commuters to pass.
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Gurugram receives 73.4mm rainfall in 24 hours, breaks 25-year-old record
Heavy showers, accompanied by hail storms and strong winds, brought much-needed relief to the residents of Gurugram from sweltering heat and hot winds on Monday morning, with the city recording its highest rainfall at 73.4mm in the month of May in the past 25 years. Gurugram on Monday (around 5 30pm) recorded a maximum temperature of 39.3C and a minimum of 16.5C — around five and eight degrees below normal, respectively.