The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has approved a major modernisation plan for Kamla Nehru Hospital, combining infrastructure upgrades with a strengthened medical workforce.
As part of the initiative, the civic body will appoint specialist doctors by offering an additional ₹1.25 lakh in salary to attract and retain high-skilled professionals.
Officials said the enhanced pay structure is intended to ensure the availability of experts round the clock, which will significantly help in improving emergency services and the functioning of the hospital’s High Dependency Units (HDU). The move is also expected to ease pressure on other civic-run hospitals by enabling Kamla Nehru Hospital to handle more critical cases in-house.
Kamla Nehru Hospital is the PMC’s largest facility, but despite its large building and infrastructure, several treatments could not be offered due to a shortage of specialist doctors. Many patients were being referred to Sassoon General Hospital for advanced care.
Municipal Commissioner Naval Kishor Ram, during a visit to the hospital, noted that patients were not receiving adequate treatment and that many doctors had left due to low pay. To address this, PMC has instructed the administration to invite applications immediately and conduct interviews to recruit 25 specialist doctors.
Earlier, PMC had approved ₹13 crore for upgrading the hospital. In the Standing Committee meeting held on Friday, an additional ₹42 crore was sanctioned for further repairs and improvements.
PMC officials emphasised that the combined push for better infrastructure and specialised manpower will help deliver faster, more reliable treatment to patients and elevate the hospital’s overall service standards.
