MAHARASHTRA

In a bid to strengthen the public Health system in cities, the will soon set up a separate directorate of health Services to oversee healthcare issues in urban areas, reportsMalathy Iyer.

Maharashtraalready has two directors of health servicesone based out of Mumbai and another in Punewhile the new third director will coordinate with the 27 civic bodies in the state.

There are indications that the restructuring will begin later this week or fortnight depending on the political situation in the state.

Less than 8% of Covid patients in Mumbai availed treatment under theMaharashtragovernment’s flagship Health Insurance scheme. This is despite hospitalisation costs being high in the city. A possible reason could be the fact that there are not enough hospitals that are part of the scheme in the metropolis and also free treatment was available in regular and field hospitals operated by the Brihanmumbai (BMC).

As of March 31, 2021, Maharashtra reported more than 28 lakh Covid cases and 54,649 deaths as against this a little over five lakh patients received treatment under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, according to information obtained under the RTI Act by activist Jeetendra Ghadge. The scheme covered over 2.2 crore families across Maharashtra.

The United India Insurance Company was appointed as the insurer for the scheme on April 1, 2020, co-incidentally when the coronavirus-induced lockdown had just been imposed.
Though Mumbai reported over four lakh cases and 11,708 deaths till April 1, 2021, only 29,664 claims were paid, while 34,867 claims were settled in Ahmednagar which reported 95,000 infections and 1,221 fatalities in the same period. In Kolhapur, 34,574 claims were paid and in Pune, 34,045.

The real estate has once again asked for a reduction in stamp duty blaming the second wave of theCovid pandemicfor subdued sales.

In separate letters to chief ministerUddhav Thackeray, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar who also holds the finance portfolio and to revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat,CREDAI-MCHI, the real estate representative body has asked for reversal of stamp duty to 2% till March 2022.

TheMaharashtragovernment will initiateconservationof fivefortsin the state and special monitoring committees with avid mountaineers and fort lovers will be created to monitor it.

It was decided that five Shivaji-era forts will be picked in the first phase and the works will be directly monitored by the chief minister’s office. Thackeray said that attempts should be made to take the locals into confidence and work in connection with them.

A comprehensive plan will be prepared and also Light and Sound shows, developing ropeways in some of the forts should be considered.

“To fasten the process of conservation, CM suggested that all the forts in the state should be brought under one government department. He also suggested that seeds should be sown in the area surrounding the fort using helicopters to increase the greenery of the area.

The state labour department has said that a detailed policy would be drawn up for migrant workers, offering them social security as well as other benefits.
The demand was made by the construction and manufacturing , with a slew of Infrastructure projects lined up in the state.

Only 13 lakh construction workers in the state are registered with the Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board. Workers not registered with the board will not get benefits like Health andaccidentinsurance, besides Education benefits for children

ocus on research that would help people and Society, public-private PARTNERSHIP model to generate finance in Education, introducing phygital education which would essentially be a blend of physical and digital education are some of the important recommendations made by theMashelkarcommittee with respect to implementation of theNew Education Policy in Maharashtra.

The recommendations were discussed during the state cabinet meeting on Thursday. Eminent scientists and educationistRaghunath Mashelkar, who chaired the committee, told that the emphasis of the report was to improve the gross enrolment ratio from 32% currently to 60-70%.

The report has stated that all learners should be eligible for free digital devices and for students that can reach even the remotest part.
The report has stated that every student in the state must get end-to-end digital access as the lockdown had shown how digital and physical education both go hand-in hand.

TheMaharashtralegislative assembly cleared two bills to increase the number of seats in local bodies.

The assembly cleared a bill to add nine electoral seats in the BMC, taking the total seats to 236 from 227 despite theopposition raising certain objections to the process followed by the BMCwhile redrawing the ward boundaries. The assembly also passed a bill to increase the number of electoral seats in zilla parishad and panchayat samitis. The minumim number of seats has been hiked to 55 from 50, and the maximum to 85 from 75.

In a singular honour for the heritage conservation movement of Mumbai, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly Prince of Wales Museum) in Kala Ghoda has won the highest Award of Excellence at the UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2022 announced in Bangkok.

CSMVS tops the list of 13 projects from six countries –Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal and Thailand — which received awards. The jury reviewed 50 entries from 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Four awards went to India. The Stepwells of Golconda in Hyderabad won the Award of Distinction, while Domakonda Fort in , and Mumbai’s own Byculla RAILWAY Station received the Award of Merit.