MSHRC recommends steps to safeguard specially-abled children in Maharashtra from COVID-19

On BJP leader Kirit Somaiya's complaint, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission made an important recommendation regarding the shelter homes for specially-abled children. It urged the Chief Secretary to constitute a committee to monitor the functioning and management of shelter homes for specially-abled children for ensuring the implementation of the state's COVID-19 guidelines. This committee will be chaired by the state Women and Child Development Minister and shall comprise a team of experts including persons of outstanding repute and having worked in the social area. 

The MSHRC called for a strict vigil over the safety of children. Somaiya had complained about the plight of the Mankhurd Bal Sudhar Kendra run by the Children's Aid Society. In this regard, the commission asked the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to release the salary arrears of employees of the Mankhurd Bal Sudhar Kendra and ensure the timely release of their future salary. The recommendations have been passed in accordance with Section 18(e) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

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COVID-19 tally in Maharashtra soars to 11.45 lakh

On Thursday, September 17, Maharashtra recorded 24,619 new novel coronavirus cases, propelling the state's COVID-19 tally to 11,45,840. At present, there are 3,01,752 active cases in the state. With 19,522 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 8,12,354. Pune, Sangli, Pune, Nagpur, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Satara, Solapur, Nanded, Nashik, Palghar and Kolhapur accounted for a majority of the 398 deaths reported on Thursday. On the other hand, Panvel, Hingoli, Parbhani, Akola, Washim, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli did not record any new fatality. 

Until now, a total of 31,351 persons have died owing to COVID-19. So far, 56,04,890 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in labs operational across the state. While 17,70,748 persons are under home quarantine, 36,827 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate, and fatality rate in Maharashtra stands at 20.44%, 70.90%, and 2.74% respectively.

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(Image credits: PTI)