PM inspects facilities at Tembhali

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived at Tembhali village in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district at 12 past noon on Wednesday. He was accompanied by Congress president and National Advisory Committe chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The PM met Tembhali's sarpanch Chhabadibai Sonawane and inspected the local health centre  with her.  The health centre in Tembhali is a simple affair as it has rudimentary facilities and lacks an air cooler. Fresly painted walls and a tin roof greeted the PM at the health centre.

Around 200 adivasis had gathered outside the barricade to catch a glimpse of the man (Manmohan Singh) and the woman (Sonia Gandhi), who they believed had come to inspect the newly built road in the village. 

The PM and Mrs. Gandhi were shown a presentation which detailed the process of enrollment for a UID card. The PM and Sonia Gandhi came out of the health centre in Tembhali after the 30-min presentation, sweating in the heat. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who accompanied the PM, exhorted the people to come forward and enroll for the UID card.

Interestingly, Tembhali's sarpanch Chhabadibai Sonawane had no clue what the UID was meant for neither did she know that that Manmohan Singh was the PM's name. She told rediff that the PM and Sonia had greeted her with folded hands. The sarpanch was also at aloss to explain the benefits of the UID card, after some propmting she finally said that the card might help her procure food grains from the local ration shop without much hassle.