2 min readMumbaiFeb 10, 2026 10:46 PM IST
Demanding urgent action on Palghar’s healthcare crisis, around 100 social workers, healthcare workers, NGOs and activists staged a protest on Tuesday at the Jawhar Additional Collector and Additional District Magistrate’s office.
According to the protesting activists, eleven years after the district was carved out to address malnutrition and poor health services, promised facilities like a district hospital, trauma centre and women’s hospital remain incomplete, while official records show hundreds of vacant posts across the health department.
Official records shared by the Palghar Zilla Parishad Health Department on Tuesday show that 811 sanctioned posts remain vacant, including 138 women health workers, 50 medical officers (Group B), and 24 drivers.
An ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) worker, who has served for two decades, said, “Most of the time, the 108 ambulance driver doesn’t come in emergencies. Often pregnant mothers and newborns have died because timely medical intervention was not given. At PHCs (Primary Health Centres), there are often no doctors, and medicines like iron and calcium tablets, which the Maharashtra government provides to pregnant women, are missing. Rural hospitals don’t have doctors either; gynecologists visit only once in 15 days. There is no transportation.”
A district officer admitted that delays in funding have slowed progress.
“There was a delay due to funds. The District Hospital was allocated Rs 209 crore and the Trauma Centre Rs 120 crore. About 75 per cent of the district hospital work has been completed since 2022, while the trauma centre, sanctioned in 2019, is structurally ready but not operational. Shortages of medicines, doctors, and gynecologists remain serious gaps.”
Sujata Ayarkar Dadode, member of Palghar Samajik Kruti Gath, said, “Last April, the Maharashtra Mahila Aarogya Haq Parishad, an organisation that studies healthcare issues in rural Maharashtra, helped us study health problems in detail. Eleven years after Palghar was made a district to address malnutrition and poor healthcare, the promised facilities are still missing. Funds are flowing for bullet trains and airports, but not for hospitals. The trauma hospital building at Manor is ready, yet unopened. If these hospitals start, our people won’t have to be sent to Silvassa or Mumbai. They will finally have affordable, local healthcare.”
