Mahayuti parties set up their own medical cells in Mantralaya

Move follows setting up of 3 separate party cells to monitor infra projects; parties deny one-upmanship

MUMBAI: After chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies set up separate entities to monitor key infrastructure projects, the three leaders have begun running their own medical assistance cells as well. The government’s official medical assistance wing is run in the CM’s name, while deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde is setting up his own medical aid wing in his office on the seventh floor of Mantralaya. Ajit Pawar’s office, meanwhile, has rolled out its own mechanism to help poor patients in the state.

Fadnavis shifted his medical aid cell from 5th to 7th floor, Shinde’s will be operational from March 2 on the 7th floor, and Pawar’s office has tied up with doctors to set up district-level offices.. (ANI Photo) (Snehal Sontakke)

Days after taking over as Maharashtra’s CM, Fadnavis shifted his medical aid cell, which he operated from the fifth floor of Mantralaya when he was deputy chief minister, to the seventh floor. Eknath Shinde’s medical help cell in his role as CM was also taken over by Fadnavis, who merged both cells and replaced the Shinde cell head, Mangesh Chivate, with Rameshwar Naik. Two months after the development, the Shinde Sena has announced the opening of its own medical assistance cell to be headed by Chivate. It will be operational from March 2.

Ajit Pawar too has started a medical assistance cell from his office. “Currently, we have offices in Baramati and Pune, and the state-level cases are handled through an app,” said an official from Mantralaya. “Ajit Pawar’s office has tied up with a couple of leading doctors like Dr Sanjay Oak, and they have been holding weekend surgery camps in Baramati and Pune. The idea is to set up offices at the district level and monitor patients from all over the state. Ajit Pawar’s office in Mantralaya monitors the work with the help of an app.”

The separate cells by the BJP, NCP and Sena are seen as an attempt at one-upmanship, as until 2022, Mantralaya had only one official medical aid cell run in the name of the CM. Chivate, however, denied that there was any competitiveness. “In fact, we want to strengthen the health services mechanism in the state so that more and more patients get assistance,” he said. “Our Shiv Sena cell will be complementary to the CM’s medical assistance cell. Even if all the ministers were to begin such cells, it would only help to fortify health services.”

Shinde’s medical assistance cell will put emphasis on the Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, which is operated by the public health department held by the Shiv Sena. The JPJAY is a network of over 1,900 enlisted hospitals across the state, offering over 1,600 medical procedures.

The CM and his two deputies have also set up three different war rooms to review ongoing big-ticket infrastructure and social projects and schemes. While Fadnavis has two war rooms to review over 50 big ticket projects, Ajit Pawar has set up a project-monitoring unit, and recently held a meeting to review dozens of projects. Shinde’s coordination cell is in the making and is expected to be operational soon.

While Fadnavis takes a review of all the projects, the two deputy chief ministers hold meetings for the projects that come under the departments held by their respective parties. The war rooms too are perceived as an attempt at one-upmanship by the three ruling parties and their leaders. However, CM Fadnavis claimed recently that it was nothing new. “We have just interchanged responsibilities in the wake of the change in our roles,” he said.