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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.

Leave cancelled, schools shut

  • PTI
  • May 8, 2025
  • 2 min read
People from various villages along the India-Pakistan border collect food at a temporary shelter on the outskirts of Jammu on Thursday. Pic: PTI
People from various villages along the India-Pakistan border collect food at a temporary shelter on the outskirts of Jammu on Thursday. Pic: PTI

Chandigarh/Jaipur: Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, many states have announced the closure of schools, blackouts in border districts, and cancellation of leave of police personnel and administration officials.


The stringent measures were taken by Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and West Bengal after India struck terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam massacre that killed 26 people.


Punjab shares a 532-km border with Pakistan, Rajasthan about 1,070 km and Gujarat around 506 km. West Bengal shares a 2,217-km border with Bangladesh.


In Punjab, the leave of all police personnel has been cancelled while the state government has shut schools in six border districts, officials said on Thursday.


"Leaves should be granted only in special circumstances with the approval of the competent authority," an order issued by the DGP's office said.


All schools in six border districts of Punjab -- Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran -- have been shut until further orders.


In Gurdaspur, there will be an eight-hour blackout starting at 9 pm on Thursday, said officials.


"Punjab shares a 532-km border with Pakistan. Therefore, the role of the Punjab government becomes extremely crucial during any military tension. All districts near the border have been placed on high alert," Punjab minister Aman Arora said on Wednesday


In neighbouring Haryana, the leave of state police personnel and those working in the health department has been cancelled till further orders.


According to a communication to the civil surgeons of all the districts across Haryana, it has been mentioned that all officials will have to remain present at their current places of posting and shall not leave the district headquarters.


In Himachal Pradesh, which also shares a border with Punjab, security has been beefed up in bordering districts, including Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur.


With famous temples like Baba Balak Nath, Maa Chintpurni and Maa Naina Devi located in Hamirpur, Una, and Bilaspur districts, police have intensified security checks there, an official said.


The Rajasthan government too has cancelled leave of administrative and police personnel deployed near the International Border and closed schools in five bordering districts.


A blackout has been instituted in these areas from midnight to 4 am on Friday till further notice as a safeguard against the possible threat of air strikes.


Government and private schools have been closed in Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Barmer districts as a precautionary measure, officials said on Thursday.


All Jodhpur colleges were also ordered to remain closed.

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