‘Where’s SRIMATHI?': Jairam Ramesh's jibe at Modi govt over ‘catchy acronyms’

Congress MP shares an episode from the recently held Standing Committee meeting.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday took a far out jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government over its bid to coin acronyms with instant appeal. Sharing an episode from the recent parliamentary Standing Committee meeting, Ramesh said that the members were informed about the government-organised programme that abbreviates as ‘SRIMAN’, which is also a word in Hindi that is used to address a male person with regard.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh. (ANI)

“There’s simply no match for Modi Sarkar’s obsession with coining catchy acronyms. Today in the Standing Committee meeting we were made aware of Scientific Research Infrastructure Sharing Maintenance and Networks (SRIMAN). My response was where’s SRIMATHI!” he said in a tweet.

Narendra Modi-led central government is running a number of schemes or programmes that could be identified through their acronyms that relate with well-known phrases or words. For example, the Centre's aviation scheme UDAN has its own meaning in itself in Hindi that relates wit the programme, however, it is an abbreviation of ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ (Common citizens of the country fly) or AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation).

SRIMAN is a government programme that aims to promote efficient utilisation and wider access of research infrastructure to scientists, industry professionals and researchers in the country by creating a network of relevant stakeholders, according to the Department of Science and Technology.