Jalgaon: In a meeting of the District Planning Committee held today at the District Planning Committee hall in the Collector's office, under the chairmanship of the State Water Supply and Sanitation Minister and Guardian Minister of the district, Gulabrao Patil, the draft district annual plan of Rs. 751.70 crore for the next financial year, 2026-27, was approved. A detailed review of the expenditure of Rs. 834.62 crore allocated for the current financial year was also conducted.
The meeting was attended by Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, Textile Industry Minister Sanjay Savkare, MLAs Suresh Bhole, Mangesh Chavan, Anil Patil, Chandrakant Patil, Amol Patil, Kishore Patil, District Collector Rohan Ghuge, Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Meenal Karanwal, and other senior officials.
In this meeting, administrative approval was given to works worth Rs. 618.99 crore, and Guardian Minister Gulabrao Patil instructed that administrative approval for the remaining works be given immediately before the end of the financial year and that the works be completed in a high-quality manner and the entire fund be spent on time. This includes Rs. 677 crore for the general category, Rs. 93 crore for the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan, and Rs. 64.62 crore for the Tribal Sub-Plan. Jalgaon district ranks first in the division in terms of fund utilisation and granting administrative approvals.
During the meeting, innovative initiatives being implemented by the district administration were inaugurated by Guardian Minister Gulabrao Patil. Under the Guardian Minister's Playground Development Program, playground facilities will be created in Zilla Parishad primary schools. Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, volleyball courts, and a 200-metre running track are being developed in 166 schools, benefiting approximately 165,000 students. This will enhance the students' physical and mental development, self-confidence, discipline, team spirit, and leadership qualities.
More than 55 services related to revenue, education, health, agriculture, women and child development, social justice, and food and civil supplies will be available at home through the Sewadoot Jalgaon website and WhatsApp chatbot (sewadootjalgaon.in). An AI-based district hospital and grain warehouse monitoring system will reduce crowding in the OPD, expedite emergency services, and strengthen security. QR code-based online hearings for quasi-judicial cases will be implemented, with a QR code on every hearing notice of the Collector's office, subdivision, tehsil, and circle-level courts. This will reduce unnecessary crowds, enable faster and more timely case resolution, and save citizens' time and money.
In the coming year, the district plans to provide playgrounds, science laboratories, and sports equipment in all schools; provide facilities in all Zilla Parishad schools lacking toilets and boundary walls; allocate ₹100 crore under public amenities for the development of internal roads in rural areas, pilgrimage sites, and marketplaces; ensure safe and easy connectivity through 3054 internal rural roads; construct irrigation dams where necessary for farmers; provide electricity connections to tribal hamlets through MSEDCL or solar energy; install solar power projects in all government schools, ashram schools, anganwadis, gram panchayats, and talathi offices; prioritize the installation of transformers for farmers and village street lighting; and establish cattle sheds every 5 km for livestock.
In the meeting, it was announced that the district will receive veterinary facilities, quality healthcare facilities in rural, sub-district, and district hospitals, a cancer screening van with an ESCON unit for cancer patients in the district, increased funds for roads, drainage, and electricity facilities in municipal corporations and municipalities, competitive exam study centers and guidance centers in every taluka, short-term and long-term courses in ITIs in line with INDUSTRY 4.0, digitization and modernization of all government offices under accelerated administration, completion of 100% of Anganwadi constructions in rural areas, LED streetlights from Ajanta Chowphulli to the airport, and the construction of taluka-level women and child development buildings for women and children.
The Guardian Minister instructed that the approved works should be completed with quality and within the stipulated time and that requests for funds for incomplete works should be immediately submitted to the DPDC. Instructions were given to complete all MSEDCL works through the e-tendering process. Under the Chief Minister Solar Agricultural Feeder scheme, 153 substations have been sanctioned in the district, of which 40 substations are generating 120 megawatts of electricity. It was informed that this is providing daytime electricity supply to 60,000 farmers.
At the beginning of the meeting, District Collector Rohan Ghuge presented the draft plan for 2026-27. The MLAs present in the meeting thoughtfully raised various issues of public interest.
Regarding milk adulteration in the district, MLA Mangesh Chavan raised an important point in the meeting. Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan instructed the District Collector and District Superintendent of Police to immediately take action to stop milk adulteration and gutkha sales in the district. MLAs Kishore Patil and Chandrakant Patil raised the issue of the increasing number of cancer patients in the district. After discussion, the Guardian Minister stated that two cancer vans with ESCON units would be sanctioned for cancer patients in the district.
