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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.

Munde in retaliation mood

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Munde

Mumbai: Food and Civil Supply minister Dhananjay Munde seems to be in a retaliatory mood. He has trained the guns on the BJP by making startling revelations at the party's 'Navsankalp Shibir' in Shirdi on Sunday. As the saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to throw Munde out of cabinet, he made the counter attack by disclosing past political developments. At the same time, he has even ensured patronage of NCP boss and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar by promoting his image.


Munde, who is at the center of controversy over the murder of a sarpanch in Beed, stated that during the early morning oath-taking ceremony on November 23, 2019, he had warned Ajit Pawar against aligning with the BJP. He mentioned that Sunil Tatkare was with them during the conversation. Munde further alleged that this move marked the beginning of a plot to push Ajit Pawar out of the NCP.


Munde’s reference was towards BJP’s herculean efforts to create the cracks in Baramati, the stronghold of Sharad Pawar and the NCP. It may be recalled that Finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman personally visited Baramati and addressed a public rally in the town.


Munde further said, “Since I joined the NCP, I have always stood behind Pawar. There were many attempts to portray Pawar as a villain. However, whenever someone attacked him, we stood by him and defended him. In 2019, I had advised not to take the early morning oath, but while they took the oath, I was the one who faced the consequences”.


Mahayuti government faces turmoil as Ajit Pawar is pressured to dismiss Dhananjay Munde over the sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh murder case, causing political tensions. Not just the opposition but even ruling BJP and Shiv Sena are demanding Munde’s dismissal. So far, Pawar has stood with Munde and managed to sustain the pressure mounted by alliance partners.


Addressing his party workers at the Navasanklap Shibir, Munde fired the first salvo at the BJP. He said that certain individuals were targeting him, particularly in Beed, and emphasised the importance of social harmony in Marathwada. Munde expressed his concerns about the deterioration of social cohesion in the region, particularly in light of the killing of Beed sarpanch. He argued that those responsible should be severely punished.


So far Pawar stood with Munde. The minister who is at the receiving end made a full-fledged attempt for the protection of Ajit dada even in future. Munde also spoke about his removal from the position of Guardian Minister of Beed. He revealed that he had personally requested both Ajit Pawar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to assign the responsibility of Beed's development to Ajit Pawar.


Munde argued that, under Pawar’s leadership, Beed would experience significant development. “In view of the current situation in Beed, I had suggested to Ajit Pawar that he should take up the post of Beed district guardian minister. I had also made the same suggestion to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

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