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Maharashtra Govt Approves Rs 36 Crore For Mounted Police Unit Expansion

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Maharashtra Govt Approves Rs 36 Crore For Mounted Police Unit Expansion

Mumbai: The government has approved Rs 36 crore for the non-recurring expenditure incurred for a mounted police unit. The unit will have 30 horses with recurring and nonrecurring expenditures within the establishment of the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai.

“While determining the approved recurring and nonrecurring expenses, rates were fixed by taking information from the manuals for mounted police units, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, Kolkata Mounted Police Unit and Mumbai Race Course,” an official said.

“The rate was calculated as per the rate of 2018 and the annual increase was not taken into consideration. The sanctioned recurring and nonrecurring expenses were falling short. Therefore, the matter of approving revised recurrent and non-recurring expenditures for the said component was under the consideration of the government. Accordingly, revised recurring expenditure of Rs1.88 crore and Rs36.53 crore revised non-recurring expenditure for the mounted police unit has been approved.”

Proposal Moved In December 2018

In December 2018, the then police commissioner Subodh Jaiswal had moved a proposal for the unit to the government. Similar proposals were made in 1990 and 2009 by the police. In January 2020, Mumbai Police formally launched its mounted police unit and acquired 13 horses. The unit had been inaugurated by Maharashtra’s erstwhile home minister, Anil Deshmukh.

Explaining the need for horses in the police machinery, the police had said that there are a lot of areas where vehicles cannot be used for patrolling, and at these places, the mounted police unit can be utilised.

Last year, the Police Welfare and Housing Department received a go-ahead from the state government to construct a place to stay for horses of the mounted unit at the police training ground inside Marol Local Arms 4 (LA 4 headquarters). The estimated cost for the project is around Rs12- Rs15 crore.

Maharashtra

Mumbai News: BMC Struggles To Find Contractors For 153 ICU Beds In 12 Peripheral Hospitals Amid High Penalties

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Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is currently struggling to find contractors to operate 153 ICU beds across its 12 suburban hospitals. Due to the lack of bidders, the civic body has had to extend the tender deadline four times.

The main reason cited for contractors’ reluctance is the steep rise in penalty clauses introduced in the tender, where the penalty amount has been increased by 100 times.

BMC has decided to outsource the management of 153 ICU beds in its 12 suburban hospitals to private operators. Accordingly, a tender was issued on July 25. In the first round, only one company showed interest. Since there was just one bidder, BMC extended the deadline. However, no further interest was shown by contractors, forcing the civic body to extend the tender date four times within just two months.

In the new tender, the BMC has increased the penalty amount by 100 percent. Earlier, if a doctor was absent in a shift, the contractor not only faced salary deductions but also had to pay a fine of Rs 1,000. Now, the fine has been raised to Rs 10,000 per shift. If the same mistake occurs more than 10 times, the penalty will further increase to Rs 1 lakh per shift.

Under a two-year contract, the BMC plans to spend Rs 3,367 per ICU bed per day. For operating 153 ICU beds in 12 suburban hospitals with the help of specialists, the administration will incur a total expenditure of Rs 33 crore 5 lakh 5 thousand 200.

Earlier, the Health Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) instructed four peripheral hospitals to manage their Medical Intensive Care Units (MICU) and Surgical Intensive Care Units (SICU) with internal resources after the outsourcing contract expired on August 30, despite being granted an extension.

A senior health department official confirmed that the ICU beds reserved at these hospitals will now be operated by the hospital staff themselves.

According to a senior civic official, this is only a temporary measure, as the process of appointing a new contractor is expected to be completed within the next one to two months.

However, several health experts, including doctors from BMC-run hospitals, have questioned the need for outsourcing ICU services altogether.

“For the last two weeks, hospitals have been managing ICU beds with their own resources. This can continue, and there is no real need to outsource them,” said a doctor on condition of anonymity.

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Maharashtra

Mumbai: SIWS Junior College Staff Protest Against Vice-Principal In Wadala, Alleging Harassment And Misconduct

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Mumbai: Several staff members of the SIWS Junior College, Wadala, staged a demonstration in front of the institution’s gate on Wednesday demanding action against the vice-principal Sheela Krishnan.

A memorandum with signatures of 30 staffers has been submitted to the principal. Among other things, the vice-principal has been accused of body-shaming a woman and passing comments against a male staff member, which resulted in ten teachers submitting a complaint against her.

Instead of dealing with the issue, the vice-principal has allegedly been targeting the ten teachers concerned.

The signatories also pointed to an incident last year when seats were surrendered during FYJC admissions. The vice-principal reportedly blamed the teachers for the same and threatened action against them.

Also, Hindi as an option has been removed from the admission form and Marathi has been added in its place which could reduce admissions. The signatories stated that they have lost confidence in the vice-principal and demanded her removal.

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Maharashtra

Maharashtra: 50-Year-Old Man Slips While Alighting Train In Akola, Rescued With Gas Cutter

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Akola: A 50-year-old man sustained injuries after he slipped while alighting a train and got trapped under it in Maharashtra’s Akola district, the Railway Police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at the Murtijapur railway station around 4.20 pm on Monday, an official said.

Mushtaq Khan Moin Khan was alighting from the Pune-Amravati train on platform no. 2 when he lost his footing, slipped and got trapped under the train, he said.

The official said the Railway Police had to extricate the injured passenger with the help of a local rescue team, and a gas cutter was used to remove the footboard of the train and pull him out safely.

Khan suffered serious injuries to his legs and was rushed to a local government hospital, where he is undergoing treatment, he added.

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