Rs 71 crore aid to 4 Maharashtra medical colleges by Shirdi based Sai Baba Temple Trust

Mumbai: The state governments’ financial constraints have been eased by the Shirdi-based Saibaba Temple Trust which has come to the aid of the government by donating 71 crores to upgrade and modernize a section of state-run medical colleges and help improve patient care, more so in rural areas. The colleges to be upgraded are located in Aurangabad, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, and Nagpur.

“We held prolonged meetings with bureaucrats of the medical education department on providing better healthcare. Based on their submissions, we have released funds for procurement of state of the art equipment for providing better diagnostic care,” said Suresh Haware, Chairman Temple trust to the TOI.

The donation released by the Sai Baba Temple trust for various medical colleges of the state are as follows:

· Yavatmal Medical College- Rs. 13 crore

· Indira Gandhi Medical College- Rs. 35.3 crore

· Aurangabad Medical College- Rs. 15 crore

· Chandrapur Medical College- Rs. 7.5 crore

“The medical education department has proposed to procure modern MRI and CT scan machines for the colleges. For Indira Gandhi Medical College, it has proposed procurement of MRI, CT scan, and DSA (digital subtraction angiography) machines,” he further added.
He also revealed that acute shortage of diagnostic equipment in Government hospitals came to light when a large number of suicides through consumption of pesticide by farmers took place, in the district of Yavatmal .

“We had a discussion with medical college officials and based on their recommendation procurement of an MRI machine was proposed. We expect that since the funds have been released, the department will procure all the equipment after following the due administrative process,” he stated.