Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar criticised the Maharashtra government over the issues related to women's safety, contractual hiring, hospital deaths, and education policies in the state. This is the second time within a week that Pawar has criticised the home department, which is under the purview of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, regarding this matter.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Friday, Pawar claimed that between January 1 and May 31 of this year, a total of 19,553 women were reported as "missing" from the state. “The government is not serious about the law and order situation in the state,” Pawar alleged.
Pawar on contractual hiring
He also slammed the government for the contractual hiring of personnel in the Mumbai police, highlighting that the state has chosen to employ government recruits on a contract basis. Pawar said the state government has so far made 11,203 recruitments in the police, health and education departments.
“We oppose this move. Those hired on contract should subsumed in government service,” Pawar said.
Earlier this week, the Maharashtra government issued an order to hire 3,000 personnel from its own security corporation who will work under the Mumbai police. These personnel drawn from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC), a government undertaking, will work under contract and assist the Mumbai police in select duties for a specific period of time.
Over deaths in state-run hospitals
He also expressed his concerns over the recent deaths in state-run hospitals and emphasised the need for permanent recruitment in the health department rather than relying on contractual hiring.
Notably, the state government faced criticism from the opposition recently when 31 patients, including infants, died at Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded within 48 hours starting from September 30. Additionally, 18 patients at the Government Medical College and Hospital at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar passed away between October 2 and 3.
NCP President Pawar also expressed criticism of the education policies implemented by the Maharashtra government. Pawar criticised the government's decision to close schools with fewer students and merge them with larger schools, pointing out that this would force students to walk long distances to attend classes. He emphasised that this approach is not in line with Maharashtra's history of being a pioneer in the field of education.
He slammed the government's decision to give state-run schools to private companies for adoption, saying it would give private entities to meddle in the affairs of schools. To buttress his point, Pawar said a school in Nashik run by an alcohol manufacturer recently organised a programme of Gautami Patil, a popular dance artist in rural Maharashtra.
(With PTI inputs)
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