Maharashtra: 9 medical colleges among 31 proposals cleared ahead of polls

The state cabinet on Wednesday approved 31 proposals for new schemes and restructured the existing ones in many departments This indicated the rush ahead of the election year and reflected efforts to score political points and woo voters from different sections of the societyThe Mumbai Trans Harbour Link was named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee the tallest leader of the BJP It will be officially branded as Atal Setu CM Eknath Shinde said after the weekly cabinet meeting He said the VersovaBandra sea link was named after V D Savarkar the ruling partnersrsquo Hindutva icon The proposals had come from Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis after the cityrsquos coastal road was last month given the name Chhatrapati Sambhaji MaharajIn another cityrelated decision one of the countryrsquos oldest institutes Sir JJ School of Art its affiliates the applied art school and architecture college have been clubbed to make it lsquodeemed to be universityrsquo The proposal to this effect will be sent to the University Grant Commission soonPrivate vet collegesIn another farreaching decision in higher education the Cabinet approved a proposal to allow permanently unaided private veterinary science and animal husbandry colleges This is expected to open another floodgate for the politicianturnededucation barons who already run professional universitiescolleges that impart education in medical pharmacy engineering management hospitality etcCurrently the state government runs 10 colleges that provide a diploma graduation and postgraduation in this stream The Cabinet note said the state did not have adequate numbers of veterinary doctors to tend to the vast number of livestock It added that the public representatives had been raising a demand for permission to private veterinary colleges9 new govt med collegesThe Cabinet also approved Rs 4365 crore for nine new government medical colleges The cost includes expenses for creating a 430bed capacity in various places The colleges with 100 seats each will come up in Palghar Ambernath Thane Jalna Amravati Buldhana Washim Wardha Bhandara and Gadchiroli The sites for Amravati and Gadchiroli have not been finalised yet Currently Maharashtra has 23 staterun medical schools with 3750 seats The state has 074 doctors per 1000 people whereas the national ratio is 091000 Buldhana has been given an agricultural sciences college as wellCentre of excellenceSome top government engineering and pharmacy colleges have been given the Centre of Excellence tag for assisting the industrymanufacturing with innovation and creating more jobs Mumbairsquos Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute is one such institute Rs 5L health cover Shinde said the health insurance cover for all citizens of Maharashtra has been raised to Rs 5 lakh per year The Cabinet cleared the amalgamation of two health schemesmdashstatersquos Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and the Centrersquos Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojanamdashto achieve the hike The previous cover was capped at Rs 15 lakhAbout 2 crore cards will be distributed and more hospitals empanelled Balasaheb Thackeray mobile clinic schememdashAapla Dawakhanamdashwas given R210 crore to serve better at 700 sites Financial assistance for the destitute people has been increased to Rs 1500 per monthFor unorganised workersA corporation will be formed for providing social and welfare security to the unorganised workers in 39 industrial and 340 commercial disciplines The disciplines will have their respective virtual boards that will be regulated by a supreme body headed by the CM A portal will register the workers and also run the virtual boards The beneficiaries will benefit from most schemes that are there for the skilled organised workforceHelp to Pakheld fisherfolkThe fishermen who were imprisoned in Pakistan on the charges of entering the marine territory have been given a relief Their distressed families will be provided financial assistance of R300 per day for the entire jail term The scheme is based on the one the Gujarat government has been running said the CMrsquos office Activist Jatin Desai who works for the fisherfolk community welcomed the decision ldquoWe had approached the state government with an appeal which has been acceptedrdquo he saidRs 4365 crFund approved for nine government medical colleges