Indore, Madhya Pradesh — The state government’s Khajrana Civil Hospital, approved in 2020, remains a “ghost hospital” with no land or structure, even as 87 government posts have been sanctioned and staff transferred to the project, officials said.
The hospital was earmarked in the 2020‑21 Madhya Pradesh budget as a tertiary care facility to serve the rapidly growing population of Indore. Despite the allocation of funds and the issuance of appointment orders for doctors, nurses and support staff, the project has not secured a plot of land or begun construction.
State health department sources confirmed that the sanctioned posts include 31 senior medical officers, 12 junior medical officers, 20 nursing staff and 24 ancillary positions. All appointments were processed through the regular state recruitment channels, and the officials have been transferred to the “Khajrana Civil Hospital” posting in official records. However, because the hospital’s physical infrastructure has not materialized, the staff are currently attached to other hospitals in the region or placed on administrative leave.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s district office in Indore was unable to provide a timeline for land acquisition or building commencement. A senior bureaucrat, who asked not to be named, said the project “has been stalled due to pending approvals for the site and financial clearances.”
Local elected representatives have raised the issue in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, questioning the rationale for appointing personnel to a non‑existent facility. “Taxpayers’ money is being spent on salaries for a hospital that does not exist,” one legislator said during a recent session.
The situation has drawn criticism from public‑interest groups, which argue that the delayed project reflects broader inefficiencies in the state’s health‑care expansion plans. An analysis by the Centre for Policy Research noted that similar “ghost hospitals” have emerged in other Indian states, often due to mismatched planning and execution timelines.
Analysis: The allocation of 87 sanctioned posts without an operational facility raises concerns about resource misallocation and administrative oversight. If staff remain on payroll without a workplace, the state incurs recurring salary costs without delivering health services. Moreover, the delay in land acquisition suggests possible bottlenecks in inter‑departmental coordination or land‑use clearances, common challenges in large‑scale public‑sector projects. Critics argue that reassigning the appointed personnel to existing hospitals could provide immediate relief to understaffed facilities, while the stalled Khajrana project should be reviewed for feasibility before further expenditures.
The state government has not yet announced a revised schedule for the hospital’s construction or a plan to redeploy the sanctioned staff.
Sources
– NDTV India, “87 staff, transfers, no building: Inside Indore’s 6‑year‑old ‘ghost hospital’,” https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/87-staff-transfers-no-building-inside-indores-6-year-old-ghost-hospital-11723866.
Story synopsis gathered from: NDTV – India News — source
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