"It has been an endeavour of our government that there

should be no shortage of funds for public health schemes," she said adding that eradication of polio is a big achievement. Till now, children below 6 years were examined in "anganwadis" by medical officers of primary health centres, while children from 6 to 18 years were covered under school health programme. With the new initiative, all children below 18 years will be under one umbrella. This initiative will certainly be helpful in improving the health of children attending anganwadis and schools, as well as those outside it, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said. This will ultimately result in reducing child mortality to a great extent, he added. A set of 30 common ailments have been identified for screening and early intervention. In Maharashtra, 4,601 schools and 6,54,915 students will be covered in Thane district. As many as 6,695 anganwadis and 6,01,365 children below six years will be covered. The programme's objective is to improve the overall quality of life of children through early detection of birth defects, diseases, deficiencies, development delays, including disability. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad was also present at the launch ceremony, which saw hundreds of school children present. Early identification of select health conditions and their linkage to care, support and treatment, under Child Health Screening and Early Intervention Services is expected to achieve equitable child health care, a senior official said.