'108' service ambulance arrives late at accident spot in MP; driver, staffer garlanded in protest
Barwani (PTI): A '108' service ambulance arrived late at a road accident site in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district on Tuesday, but instead of venting their ire, local residents garlanded its driver, emergency medical technician with flowers and presented them coconuts, eyewitnesses said.
This unique protest took place in Anjad town, about 20 kilometers from the district headquarters, and a senior health department official later admitted a dozen out of the 38 ambulances operating under 108 emergency response helpline in Barwani are out of service.
The eyewitnesses said the ambulance of 108 service reached about an hour after the accident to pick up people injured in a collision between two motorcycles.
Local resident Girish Chauhan informed five people were injured in the collision between two motorcycles on Barwani Road.
He said two seriously injured people were taken to the district hospital in private vehicles, while the 108 service ambulance arrived late to pick up the other three persons.
Chauhan said, "We garlanded the ambulance driver and EMT (emergency medical technician) with flowers and presented them coconuts for the delay. The 108 ambulance service in Anjad has been out of order for nearly two months. Perhaps our protest will improve the situation."
Kamlesh Chauhan, Barwani district manager of the 108 service, said Anjad's ambulances have been deployed for two days for the 'Panchakroshi Yatra', a popular pilgrimage which attracts lakhs of Lord Shiva devotees.
He said an ambulance was sent to Anjad from the district headquarters after receiving information about the accident.
Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Surekha Jamre said, "Twelve of the 38 (108 ambulances) in the district are out of service. People involved in managing them have been fined for negligence. Further fines will be imposed on those found negligent in providing services."
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
