‘BRTS is for the people, not for govt propaganda’

The highly ambitious Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) in Ahmedabad should be a gift for the residents of the city. The project should be people-oriented and not propaganda-oriented, said Shaktisinh Gohil, leader of the opposition in the Gujarat assembly, on Tuesday.

The Congress leader said that the state government is taking credit for projects implemented by the UPA government at the Centre. “Gujarat,” Gohil said, “is the only state in India that does not give credit to the central government for releasing grants for projects. The central government had released Rs26.55 crore as a grant for the first phase of the BRTS project, from the RTO circle to Chandranagar; and Rs87.5 crore for the second phase.” On the other hand, the state government’s share is only Rs11.55 crore and Rs37.57 crore for the two phases, respectively, and still it is claiming credit for the project, he said.

The BRTS, Gohil said, will be environment friendly and will help to bring down carbon emissions in the city. “Also, the buses have been designed in such a way that senior citizens and handicapped people will not have any problem in boarding them,” he said.

Regarding the delay in the launch of the BRTS, Gohil said that administrative inefficiency and carelessness on part of the state government and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) resulted in this. “Moreover, the civic body did not follow the guidelines of the Gujarat high court regarding removing hutments along the BRTS route,” he said.

He further said that the NDA government had not introduced any scheme for releasing money directly to the state governments. “The UPA government had given Rs6,389 crore for development works in Gujarat in 2008-09. In one year,  Narendra Modi has wasted Rs5 crore received as grants from the centre for the welfare of women and children, by organising public meetings for political benefit,” he said.