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By:

Rajendra Joshi

3 December 2024 at 3:50:26 am

Procurement first, infrastructure later

Procurement at multiples of market price; equipment before infrastructure; no accountability Kolhapur: Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Public Health Departments have been on an aggressive drive to expand public healthcare infrastructure. Daily announcements of new centres, advanced equipment and expanded services have reassured citizens long denied dependable public healthcare. Procurement of medical equipment, medicines and surgical supplies is reportedly being undertaken at rates two to...

Procurement first, infrastructure later

Procurement at multiples of market price; equipment before infrastructure; no accountability Kolhapur: Maharashtra’s Medical Education and Public Health Departments have been on an aggressive drive to expand public healthcare infrastructure. Daily announcements of new centres, advanced equipment and expanded services have reassured citizens long denied dependable public healthcare. Procurement of medical equipment, medicines and surgical supplies is reportedly being undertaken at rates two to ten times higher than prevailing market prices. Basic economics dictates that bulk government procurement ought to secure better rates than private buyers, not worse. During the Covid-19 pandemic, equipment and consumables were procured at five to ten times the market rate, with government audit reports formally flagging these irregularities. Yet accountability has remained elusive. The pattern is illustrated vividly in Kolhapur. The Dean of Rajarshi Shahu Government Medical College announced that a PET scan machine worth Rs 35 crore would soon be installed at Chhatrapati Pramilaraje (CPR) Government Hospital for cancer diagnosis. But a comparable machine is available in the market for around Rs 6.5 crore. A senior cancer surgeon at a major cancer hospital in western Maharashtra, where a similar machine was recently installed, remarked that the gap between what his hospital paid and what the government is reportedly paying was enough to make one ‘feel dizzy’. The label of a ‘turnkey project’ does not adequately explain a price differential of this magnitude. High Costs CPR Hospital recently had a state-of-the-art IVF centre approved at a sanctioned cost of Rs 7.20 crore. Senior fertility specialists across Maharashtra note that even a modern IVF centre with advanced reproductive technology equipment typically costs between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3 crore. The state’s outlay is reportedly approaching Rs 15 crore. Equipment arrived in June 2025 and lay idle for months owing to indecision about the site. Similarly, digital X-ray machines approved for CPR Hospital and a government hospital in Nanded; available in the market for roughly Rs 1.5 crore; were reportedly procured at Rs 9.98 crore per unit. Doctors in CPR’s radiology department, apprehensive about being drawn into potential inquiries, reportedly resisted accepting the equipment. One departmental head was transferred amid disagreements over signing off on the proposal. What’s Wrong These cases point to a deeper structural failure: Maharashtra has perfected what might be called the ‘equipment first, infrastructure later’ model. In any public hospital, the administrative sequence ought to be: identify space, create infrastructure, sanction specialist posts, and only then procure equipment. Compounding the procurement paradox is a parallel policy decision. On 20 December 2025, the state government decided to introduce radiology diagnostic services through a Public-Private Partnership model (PPP). Following this, an order issued on 6 February 2026 authorised private operators to provide PET scan, MRI and CT scan services at six government medical college hospitals: in Pune, Kolhapur, Miraj, Sangli, Mumbai and Baramati. CPR already has a 126-slice CT scan machine and a 3 Tesla MRI scanner, with another CT scan proposed. If the PPP arrangement proceeds, the hospital could simultaneously run one PET scan machine, two MRI scanners and three CT scan machines. Medical experts warn this could lead to unnecessary diagnostic testing simply to keep machines occupied, thus exposing patients to excess radiation while government-owned equipment gathers dust. A similar pattern was seen during the pandemic, when the Medical Education Department spent hundreds of crores on RT-PCR machines, only to award swab-testing contracts to a private company. Many of those machines remain unused today.

Flight carrying 26/11 Mumbai terror accused Tahawwur Rana to arrive in Delhi today



New Delhi: Tahawwur Hussain Rana, one of India's most wanted accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is en route to New Delhi following his extradition from the United States after exhausting all legal avenues to stall the move.


About The Extradition

A special chartered flight carrying the 64-year-old left the US on Wednesday, April 9, marking a significant moment in India's pursuit of justice for the 2008 terror attack that killed 166 people.


Sources revealed that Rana, a Canadian-American citizen of Pakistani origin, is expected to land in New Delhi later in the day. Upon arrival, he will be taken into custody by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is coordinating his extradition along with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He is likely to be presented before a Delhi court soon after.


Rana has been charged under multiple sections, including criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India, murder, forgery, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Mumbai Police, however, have not yet received an official communication regarding his transfer to the city.


On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the extradition as a major diplomatic success for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.


"Tahawwur Rana's extradition is a big success of Prime Minister Modi's diplomacy," Shah said, calling it a defining triumph for the administration and a step toward justice for the victims of the horrific attacks.


Rana's extradition marks the beginning of long-awaited legal proceedings into one of the most devastating terror episodes in India's contemporary history.


Officially handed over to the NIA on April 8, 2025, in California, Rana had fought a protracted legal battle in the US to avoid being sent to India. His legal team had filed multiple appeals, including to the US Supreme Court, but all were ultimately rejected.


In his defence, Rana cited deteriorating health conditions, including Parkinson's disease, a serious abdominal aneurysm, and symptoms of bladder cancer, claiming these made him unfit to face trial in India.

However, the US courts were unconvinced by his arguments, with his final appeal dismissed on April 7.


The extradition honours a prior assurance reportedly given by former US President Donald Trump during discussions with Prime Minister Modi.


A known associate of David Coleman Headley -- another key conspirator in the 26/11 plot -- Rana is believed to have had close links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.


While a US jury had earlier acquitted Rana of directly supporting the Mumbai attacks, he was convicted on separate terror charges and served over a decade in prison.


He was released during the Covid-19 pandemic on health grounds but was re-arrested in 2020 on the Indian extradition request, eventually leading to the present development.


Rana's arrival in India opens a crucial chapter in the investigation of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, potentially shedding light on the deeper nexus between global terror networks and state-sponsored actors. The Indian government is expected to push for a speedy trial in this high-profile case.

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