Jalna (Maha), Jan 12 (PTI) The district authorities in Maharashtra's Jalna have issued show-cause notices to 17 health officers for "dereliction of duty" in the COVID-19 vaccination programme, an official said on Wednesday.

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The District Health Officer (DHO) has issued these notices.

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They include three tehsil health officers in Ambad, Ghansawangi and Mantha.

Talking about the action, DHO Vivek Khatgaonkar said, "The district administration is taking steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 amid a surge in the new infection and Omicron cases. The administration is focusing on the vaccination on eligible people, but it was found that the health officers who were supposed to perform their duty, were found indulging in dereliction of duty and did not follow the orders of their superiors."

Apart from the health officers in three tehsils, the notices were issued to the health officers of public health centres (PHCs) in Gondi, Shahgad, Sukhapuri, Wakulni, Somthana, Rajur, Rajtakli, Dongaon, Khasgaon, Warudi, Ramnagar, Talni, Taksala and Patoda.

Last month, the CEO of Jalna Zilla Parishad, Manuj Jindal, had terminated four contractual health officers for dereliction of duty during the pandemic.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)