Cabinet approves hospitals for senior ministers’ hometowns

Three big names in the state government — Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Ajit Pawar, energy minister, and Sunil Tatkare, finance minister — have got their respective hometowns new government hospitals.

Three big names in the state government — Ashok Chavan, chief minister, Ajit Pawar, energy minister, and Sunil Tatkare, finance minister — have got their respective hometowns new government hospitals.

HT Image

The state cabinet approved a proposal to set up four new government hospitals at its weekly meeting on Tuesday. Chavan’s hometown, Nanded, will get a 200-bed district-level hospital and a 100-bed women’s hospital. Pawar’s Baramati, which is known as a development model in western Maharashtra, will get 100-bed women’s hospital.

Raigad, Tatkare’s turf, has also been given a 100-bed women’s hospital.

Sources in the government said the hospitals will be attached to the government medical colleges that are likely to come up in these three towns. “The proposal was approved easily because it was seen as an agreement between the Congress (Chavan) and Nationalist Congress Party (Pawar and Tatkare),” said a senior minister requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media on cabinet proceedings.

Ever since he took over as CM, Chavan has been trying his best to speed up Nanded’s development. The Nanded district hospital will be funded through the special Marathwada package that was declared recently. The women’s hospitals in Nanded, Baramati and Raigad will be constructed using government grant.