Opposition Congress on Thursday staged a walkout of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly after accusing the state government of diverting National Rural Health Mission funds to the ''Atal Swasthya Sewa'', a free ambulance service, launched by the ruling BJP in the state last year. Congress leader G S Bali alleged that the state government has diverted the National Rural Health Mission funds for the ambulance service and is trying to gain “cheap publicity” by naming the scheme after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Replying to a question put up by Congress MLA Kaul Singh and five others, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal said the service was launched on December 25, 2010 after inviting open bids and denied any irregularity in the implementation of this scheme. Not satisfied by the reply, Congress members alleged that the scheme was being funded by NRHM of Union Government, the ambulance run under the scheme display the scheme in small font size.Congress walked out but returned after the lunch break. Condemning the walkout, Chief Minster Prem Kumar Dhumal refuted the allegations of the Congress and said the entire process was transparent and the scheme was cleared by the High Court before its implementation.