Congress did not feel insulted with MP's 'Bimaru' tag: Modi
Rajgarh, June 23: Accusing the Congress of not caring for Madhya Pradesh's future and not feeling insulted over the state's earlier "BIMARU" tag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said BJP has made the state a major participant in the development process of the country.
Addressing a rally in poll-bound state after inaugurating the Mohanpura irrigation project, Modi remembered Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary and accused the Congress of glorifying one family while ignoring contribution of other nation builders.
Claiming that Madhya Pradesh's condition had been such that an "insulting word" was associated with it, he said: "That word was BIMARU. We never liked it. Madhya Pradesh was counted among the sick states.
"The Congress, which ruled Madhya Pradesh for long time, did not see or feel the insult. They treated the common people as their subjects and got them to sing their praises. They did not care for Madhya Pradesh's future."
"BJP has taken out the state from that situation and made it country's major partner in development," he added.
The acronym BIMARU was coined in the 1980s for the economic condition of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Without naming the Congress, Modi attacked it for spreading lies about his government's performance. "Those who are spreading lies do not know the ground reality," he said.
The Prime Minister said that his government is making sure that every village in the districts should have a gas connection, every household has electricity connection, everybody has bank accounts, everybody gets a shield of security insurance and every pregnant woman and child is immunised.
He said this work could have been done by the Congress or previsions governments also.
"It was unfortunate on the part of this country that Congress which has ruled this country for so many years never had trust in you and your hard work.
"Your presence in such a large number shows you have faith in the government and its policies," he added.
He said under leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Madhya Pradesh has written a "new saga of development". "The release of irrigation project in Mohanpura today and the work on the three water supply schemes is a part of this link. This project is not only Rajgarh but also one of the major projects of Madhya Pradesh."
He said this project is not only an example of rapid growth but also the way in which government works.
"This project has been completed within approximately four years. In this, special attention has been given to micro-irrigation by prioritising that water reaches to farms by laying pipelines," he said.
He said four crore poor women have got free LPG cylinders in the country under Ujjwala Yojana and in Madhya Pradesh, about 40 lakh women have been given free gas connections so far.
Taking a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of government over job creation, Modi said: "This government respects labour. Some people's attitude towards labour may not be positive, they make fun of employment, but the efforts of this government are in front of everyone today. More than 85 lakh people of Madhya Pradesh have taken benefit of Mudra Yojna."
He also said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and government have followed the vision of Mookerjee, which is "visible in several programmes of the BJP governments at the Centre and in states".
"Whether it is a Skill India Mission for youth or Start Up scheme, Mudra Yojna for self-employment or Make in India, you will get a glimpse of Dr. Mookerjee's ideas," he said.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
