The Maharashtra government will now allow district collectors to utilise 100% of medical funds through the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC). Previously, only 10% of these funds could be used for this purpose.
The health department has also decided to expedite the purchase of essential and life-saving medicines. This decision comes in the wake of an incident in Nanded, where multiple deaths occurred in a hospital.
During the pandemic, districts were granted similar powers for emergency purchases. Usually, only a certain portion of DPDC funds is earmarked for medical supply purchases.
Earlier, districts could only use 10% of this allocation. The remaining 90% was reserved for bulk purchases by Haffkine Biopharmaceutical. However, recent reports highlighted issues with Haffkine's centralised procurement process. This led to continuous drug shortages at government facilities over the past few years.
A state government circular released on Thursday has now given districts the freedom to use all their discretionary DPDC medical expenditures. The newly established Maharashtra Medicine Procurement Authority (MMPA) replaced Haffkine. But it is still dealing with organisational challenges.
The DPDC's medical quota has been allocated a total of INR 250 crore. This means approximately INR 7–10 crore is allocated per district. The public health department is currently examining its medicine stockpiles, which are estimated to last 30–45 days.
The current stockpiles will be sufficient to last for the next 30–45 days. Despite this, the health department plans to purchase an additional 20% of the required amount as a buffer.
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