At a glance: June 26 2010

Health scheme for school children

State government has approved a scheme under which regular health check-ups of school children will be done so that they can be provided treatment if found suffering from malnutrition or other diseases. Under the 'Chirau School Swasthya Yojna' scheme, an awareness programme for teachers and guardians on students' health will also be carried out, an official spokesman said. A team, comprising doctors, para-medical staff and officials of the Education department, formed at district level will travel to schools for conducting health check-ups. The team will provide treatment if the children are found suffering from malnutrition or other diseases, he said. The team will examine at least 200 school children in plains and 150 in hilly areas every month. A coordinator at divisional level will be appointed to coordinate with the teams at district levels while Chief Medical Officers and Additional District Education Officers will be its nodal officers, the spokesman said. Under the scheme, health cards will be issued for the children, he said, adding, the scheme will be implemented through 'Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan' programme for students of up to class V while from Class VI to VIII, it will be implemented under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Support for CIP

Supporting the demand of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh for extension of Concessional Industrial Package (CIP), senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the party had asked Punjab and Gujarat governments not to oppose incentives to the two hill states. "We have asked these states (Punjab and Gujarat) to make progress on the basis of what they are getting, and not to oppose the package to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh," Swaraj told reporters after releasing a booklet on the completion of one year of Nishank Government in office. The BJP leader said that the centre's decision to curtail the CIP to the two states was "totally unjustified." "Industries had started to come to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh keeping in view the long period of industrial package, which was scheduled to expire in 2013. But the Congress-led UPA government's decision to curtail it by three years is totally unjustified," she said. Swaraj said that she along with party chief Nitin Gadkari, senior party leader L.K. Advani and chief ministers of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh would soon meet prime minister on the issue.