Mon May 19 11:51:03 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary and a news article based on the provided text:

**Summary:**

Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar has announced a series of sweeping initiatives aimed at overhauling and improving the state’s healthcare system. These directives include drafting a new health policy, addressing staff transfers and promotions, improving compensation for healthcare workers (especially ASHA workers and those under the National Health Mission), filling medical officer vacancies, amending the Bombay Nursing Home Act, launching public health campaigns (TB-free Panchayats, tobacco-free schools, and rural sanitation), establishing new medical assistance centers and cancer day care centers, providing special facilities for doctors in underserved areas, and exploring land for a PM MedCity program. The minister has set deadlines for proposals and budget submissions to ensure swift implementation of these plans.

**News Article:**

**Maharashtra Announces Major Healthcare Overhaul: New Policies, Increased Worker Pay, and Public Health Campaigns on the Horizon**

**Mumbai, May 19, 2025** – Maharashtra Health Minister Prakash Abitkar today unveiled a comprehensive plan to bolster the state’s healthcare infrastructure and improve services for its citizens. The announcement, made during a meeting with senior health officials, included directives for drafting a new state health policy, addressing staffing issues, and launching several public health initiatives.

A key focus is on improving the welfare of healthcare workers. Minister Abitkar ordered the submission of a proposal to induct contract employees under the National Health Mission into government service and increase their honorarium. He also approved a significant raise in compensation for ASHA workers, increasing their incentives per Ayushman Bharat card issued from ₹5 to ₹20. To address staffing shortages, the Minister directed officials to expedite recruitment through the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) for Class I medical officers.

The minister has mandated transparency in medical officer transfers and ordered the completion of inter-district Community Health Officer transfers by May 31, 2025. Rules will also be amended to facilitate the promotion of Nursing Tutors to Nursing Superintendent.

Several public health campaigns are also on the agenda, including initiatives for TB-Free Panchayats, Tobacco-Free Schools, and a rural sanitation and health campaign. Seventeen Cancer Day Care Centres, as announced in the Union Budget, will be established across the state. Medical assistance centers are slated to open in Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and Mumbai.

To support doctors working in underserved regions, Minister Abitkar directed the provision of special facilities for those posted in tribal and remote areas.

Looking ahead, the minister called for the exploration of land near airports in Kolhapur or Pune for the PM MedCity program.

“The goal is to create a more robust, accessible, and equitable healthcare system for all citizens of Maharashtra,” Minister Abitkar stated. He set a deadline of May 31, 2025, for the submission of supplementary budget demands to the Finance Department to ensure timely implementation of these ambitious plans. Legal firms are to be appointed to draft amendments to the Bombay Nursing Home Act and related legislation, with the proposed bill to be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session.

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