Badal slams Centres unrealistic conditions

NRHM : UPA govt stops funds for ambulance service

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Chief Minister Parkash Sing Badal today demanded the removal of illogical and utterly unrealistic conditions imposed by the Centre as riders on the release of central funds for schemes and relief measures that are carried out by state governments.

He was referring to the Centres move to stop funds for the states ambulance service,one of the reasons being that Badals pictures were pasted on the vehicles. After issuing a number of warnings,the Centre had stopped the grant for running the ambulance service in Punjab last week. Funds worth Rs 10 crore were given annually under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The Punjab Youth Congress had repeatedly complained on the issue,following which the warnings were issued. Congress leader Sunil Jakhar had said that for such a national project,photos of Mahatma Gandhi or Bhim Rao Ambedkar should have been used,but Badal had pasted his own pictures,thus claiming it as his own project.

Badal today asked PPCC leaders,especially Partap Singh Bajwa and Sunil Jakhar,to join the states efforts to get the Centres dictatorial conditions removed so that the states have greater freedom to implement people-friendly schemes rather than be obsessed with petty quarrels. If the Centre wants state governments not to use the names or pictures of leaders duly elected by the

people for schemes in which the Centre contributes,then by the same logic,would they remove the names of Congress leaders from central schemes as the money that goes into them is collected from states? Badal added.

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