Ahmedabad: When it is election time, political parties do not hesitate to take credit for the success of a project even if they have no hand in it. This is best exemplified by the game both the BJP and Congress are playing by telling people that the phenomenal success of EMRI (108) service is because of their initiatives.
Both the parties see huge potential in marketing the EMRI success mantra among voters. The idea is to give the voters an impression that the party that has brought the most-needed service to the doorstep of the common man believes in development agenda and that people should vote for that party.
During his recent election campaigns across Gujarat, chief minister Narendra Modi has said that it was his government that had started the service for people. He took a dig at the Congress party and UPA government for taking credit for the EMRI success.
"I've started the service and people of Gujarat are taking benefit of this. Even villagers of Maharashtra on Gujarat-Maharashtra border take help of the service - they bring patients to the nearby village of Gujarat and then use the '108' ambulance," Modi said in a recent public meeting.Modi blamed the state unit of the Congress for publishing advertisements in the local media to take credit for the service. "The Congress is giving advertisements to mislead people about the '108' ambulance service, which is purely the state government's initiative," Modi said in a recent public meeting.
The '108' service was launched in the state one-and-a-half years ago and now it is available in all districts with a fleet of around 400 ambulances. The prompt and efficient service provided by EMRI has made it hugely popular across the state. When the serial blasts rocked Ahmedabad in July last year, '108' was of tremendous help to victims.
According to the state government, the project is not run by the Central government. Says health minister and government spokesperson Jay Narayan Vyas: "The scheme has been initiated by the Modi government and it is run by the state government. It has nothing to do with the Centre as being claimed by the Congress.''
However, the Congress says the project is actually funded by the Central government.
"The state government answered to a RTI application that Rs69 crore was used from funds of Central government for running the '108' service,'' said Manish Doshi, Congress spokesperson. "The service has been started with funds allocated to the state government under National Rural Health Mission of the Union government,'' Doshi added.
No comments:
Post a Comment