Robust logistics, boosting personnel strength key for vaccination success: Expert As the country of over 1.3 billion people has begun a nationwide Covid-19 vaccination programme, managing the logistics and training the workers who will be closely involved in the roll-out remains a critical and daunting task, writes Praveen Pardeshi, a former commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. While developed countries like France and Germany are struggling to speed up the rollout, Israel has managed to inoculate 2 million people already, or 20 per cent of its population. Two factors central to Israel s success so far ample access to shots, robust logistics and supply chain have been put in place by India, writes Pardeshi, who served as BMC s commissioner during the early months of the pandemic in Mumbai until May 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented stress on India’s urban public health infrastructure, underscoring the need for urban planning to account for increased demand for health amenities during crises. This paper evaluates the city of Mumbai’s 1991 and 2034 development plans and finds inherent infrastructural inadequacies. It calls on urban-policymakers to complement development plans with robust dynamic health strategies that consider technological advances and epidemiological changes. Public-private partnerships should be encouraged to overcome the challenges of funding and technology adoption in health planning.
Attribution: Sayli Udas-Mankikar, “Health Infrastructure Planning Amid COVID-19: The Case of Mumbai,”
ORF Issue Brief No. 435, January 2021, Observer Research Foundation.
Mumbai: Amid corruption allegations, probe ordered into BMC covid-related expenditure
It has been alleged that the BMC gave away contracts for jumbo Covid centres like the Nesco centre to a private builder without inviting tenders and supply of oxygen cylinders to developers. December 24, 2020 8:35:17 am
The BMC has, so far, spent over Rs 1,200 crore on Covid-related purchases and creating health infrastructure from March to December. (Express Photo)
Amid Controversy and allegations of corruption, the Standing Committee on Wednesday ordered a probe into the BMC’s Covid-related expenditure. The BMC has, so far, spent over Rs 1,200 crore on Covid-related purchases and creating health infrastructure from March to December.
The BMC is incurring cost to create quarantines, isolation wards, purchasing equipment and medicine. (File)
AMID CONTROVERSY and allegations of corruption, the Standing Committee on Wednesday ordered a probe into the BMC’s Covid-related expenditure.
The BMC has, so far, spent over Rs 1,200 crore on Covid-related purchases and creating health infrastructure from March to December. The money has come from the civic body’s contingency fund and in part from the revenue allocation made in its 2020 Budget for the health department.
Samajwadi Party MLA and municipal councillor Rais Shaikh on Wednesday demanded that the municipal auditor should investigate Covid expenditure and a separate meeting should be convened to discuss the matter. Standing Committee chairperson Yashwant Jadhav directed the administration to conduct an inquiry.
Who’ll be next MahaRERA chief?
ByYogesh NaikYogesh Naik / Updated: Dec 20, 2020, 06:00 IST
With the post of Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (
MahaRERA) chief falling vacant in February, two
senior IAS officers - Chief Secretary
Sanjay Kumar and MMRDA Commissioner RA Rajeev are in the race.
Maharashtra was the first state to set up a real estate regulatory authority and had appointed 1982 batch IAS officer
Gautam Chatterjee as the first head.
Kumar, an IAS officer of the 1984 batch, is retiring in February 2021 and is said to be trying for the RERA chief’s post which has a term of five years.