Days after Health Minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated a trauma care centre on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, it has emerged that an internal audit had raised serious questions over the centre’s location and had even recommended an investigation into the deal to construct it on private land. The centre will provide medical aid to the injured within the golden hour.
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The Hindu is in possession of the audit enquiry note addressed to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which questioned an agreement of the land, dated November 16, 2012.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena government, which has been digging out old cases against the previous government of the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has maintained silence over the note and according to sources, has not even replied to the audit enquiry. Mr. Shinde, who also handles the MSRDC portfolio, is from the Sena. The minister did not reply to phone calls.
Jaidatta Kshirsagar, former NCP leader and MSRDC minister in 2012, has now joined the Sena and is the minister for Employment Guarantee and Horticulture.
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“The trauma care centre was constructed without any involvement of experts in the field and therefore, it is not matching with the requirements of a level-IV trauma care centre,” the audit note said.
The MSRDC had entered into an agreement in 2012 with Woodstock Helicopter Pvt. Ltd. for leasing the land at Ozarde village, Maval taluk , Pune, for providing the trauma care centre along the expressway.
“The actual beneficiary of the deal is Woodstock, in which they ensured right of way to and permission for commercial exploitation of their huge land parcel acquired/to be acquired with restriction of access to all other land owners in the vicinity, which would not have been possible but for this agreement,” the note said. It pointed out that the MSRDC has a sufficient land bank along the expressway, which could have been developed for a trauma centre of the required level.
“The company (MSRDC) may initiate a probe into the deal and find out the reasons for entering into such an agreement without due diligence/vetting, and responsibility may be fixed for negligence, if any,” it said, while seeking a reply from the MSRDC.
Chandrakant Pulkundwar, joint managing director of the MSRDC, told The Hindu , “The MSRDC after following due procedure has finally put the trauma care unit to best possible use for saving lives of accident victims on the expressway.”