KT NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, Feb 16: Ever alert to find faults with the "feel good" advertisement campaign of the Vajpayee Government, the Congress on Monday exposed a "blatant lie" on the full-page advertisement of the Health Ministry regarding establishment of twelve All India Institutes of Medical Scienes (AIIMS).
"In 50 years one AIIMS and in one year 12 AIIMS" is a blatant wrong propaganda at the cost of the taxpayers' money, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said, wanting to know where and when these medical institutes were established by the government.
He pointed out that there was only one reference in Para 8 of the Finance Minister's budget speech but that was only an expression of intention since not a single paisa has been allotted yet for the purpose.
The advertisement tries to give an impression that 12 medical institutes have been set up in one year while the fact is that there is no paisa (money), no site selection and no project report as yet, Mukherjee stressed.
On behalf of the Congress, Mukherjee also urged the Election Commission to reject outright the BJP's demand to allow the Prime Minister-level facilities to Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani to trave around in the government aircraft and helicopters during the election campaign.
The PM enjoys a special constitutional status and hence gets such privileges which cannot be extended to any other minister, Mukherjee said, pointing out that there is constitutional position of the Deputy PM who is like any other minister and cannot have special privileges.
