State spent around ₹1.40 crore on Covid-19 treatment of ministers, finds RTI query

HT Correspondent The Maharashtra government paid around ₹1

HT Correspondent

Maharashtra ministers Jitendra Awhad and Rajesh Tope HT File Photo

The Maharashtra government paid around ₹1.40 crore to private hospitals towards the Covid-19 treatment of its ministers during the pandemic, with five of them spending over ₹10 lakh each, data obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows.

Several ministers of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) tested positive for the virus in the last two years. Eighteen of them took treatment at private hospitals and the state cleared their bills. Among them, health minister Rajesh Tope spent the maximum amount of ₹34.40 lakh followed by energy minister Nitin Raut ₹17.63 lakh, rural development minister Hasan Mushrif ₹14.56 lakh, Abdul Sattar ₹12.56 lakh, Jitendra Awhad ₹11.76 lakh, Chhagan Bhujbal ₹9.03 lakh, Sunil Kedar ₹8.71 lakh, Jayant Patil ₹7.30 lakh, Subhash Desai ₹6.97 lakh, and Anil Parab ₹6.79 lakh. The lowest amount - ₹26,520 - was spent by minority affairs minister Nawab Malik.

Tope, however, told reporters that the bills were for his mother and not him. “Not a single rupee was spent on me for Covid-19 treatment. The bills were for my mother who was admitted to Bombay Hospital.”

Tope’s mother Sharda Tope passed away in August 2020 at Bombay Hospital where she was receiving treatment for a prolonged illness. She was 74.

The state government cleared bills worth ₹41.38 lakh for Bombay Hospital, paid ₹26.27 lakh to Lilavati Hospital and ₹15.37 lakh to Breach Candy Hospital.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the MVA for allowing its ministers to take treatment at private hospitals.

BJP leader Atul Bhatkhalkar said, “The ministers were taking five-star treatment at city hospitals when the common man was struggling to get a bed in government hospitals during the pandemic. The government has money to spend on the ministers, but not on the general public. Is this the Shivshahi [rule of Shivaji Maharaj] they claim to have been following?”

An official from the general administration department said, “Ministers are entitled to get reimbursement against medical expenses of their dependent members.”