A proposed 100-bed civil hospital in Indore’s Khajrana area has sparked widespread debate after it emerged that the facility has been functioning administratively for six years without a building, construction site or even a finalised plot of land.
Approved by the Madhya Pradesh government in June 2020 to improve healthcare access for over three lakh residents in Khajrana and surrounding localities, the project stalled due to the unavailability of suitable government land.
Despite this, the Health Department sanctioned 87 posts including doctors, nurses and paramedical staff and continued issuing appointments and transfer orders, with one laboratory technician reportedly transferred to the hospital as recently as June 2026.
Officials clarified that nearly 80 employees attached to the proposed hospital are currently working at other government healthcare facilities, including PC Sethi Hospital, Hukumchand Hospital and Sanjivani Clinics, ensuring that public resources are not lying idle.
Defending the government’s approach, Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla said the project evolved from an Urban Primary Health Centre to a proposed 50-bed, and later a 100-bed, civil hospital, but construction could not begin because suitable land had not been identified.
Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Hasani also cited the difficulty of finding a sufficiently large government plot within the city limits.
However, the opposition has accused the government of administrative negligence, with former minister Sajjan Singh Verma questioning how recruitment and transfers could continue for years for a hospital that does not physically exist and announcing that the issue will be raised in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly session while demanding a high-level inquiry.
Paper Hospital, Real Staff
The Khajrana Civil Hospital was envisioned as a major public healthcare facility to serve one of Indore’s rapidly expanding urban regions and reduce pressure on existing government hospitals.
However, instead of progressing from land acquisition to construction and eventual commissioning, the project has remained frozen at the infrastructure stage while administrative processes continued almost uninterrupted.
Government records sanctioned 87 positions covering specialist doctors, medical officers, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, paramedical personnel and support staff, with transfers and postings issued over several years despite the absence of a hospital building.
Clarifying the unusual situation, Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla said, “Initially, an Urban Primary Health Centre operated here, which was upgraded to a 50-bed civil hospital and later planned as a 100-bed facility.
However, construction could not begin due to the unavailability of suitable government land. Until the building is constructed, the sanctioned staff has been deployed to other government medical institutions.”
Echoing this, Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Madhav Hasani explained that locating a large government-owned parcel within Indore’s urban limits has proven difficult, forcing authorities to temporarily attach nursing and paramedical staff to functioning hospitals and Sanjivani Clinics so that their skills continue to benefit patients.
Officials have stressed that the controversy concerns a “ghost institution” rather than “ghost employees”, as those appointed against the sanctioned posts continue to work in operational public health facilities instead of remaining inactive.
Political Questions And Administrative Lessons
The revelation has intensified political scrutiny over governance, planning and administrative accountability in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress has described the episode as a serious example of bureaucratic failure, arguing that recruitment, transfers and official records should have been synchronised with the project’s physical progress.
Former minister Sajjan Singh Verma questioned how government departments continued issuing transfer orders for a hospital that had not even secured land, saying the matter reflected systemic negligence rather than an isolated procedural lapse.
The opposition has announced plans to raise the issue prominently during the upcoming Assembly session and seek a detailed investigation into the administrative decisions that allowed the project to remain active on paper for six years.
At the same time, governance experts note that such situations can arise when multiple bureaucratic processes such as staffing approvals, cadre management, budget allocations and departmental records continue independently after a project receives administrative sanction, even if infrastructure development stalls.
While health departments often approve staffing well before hospitals become operational to avoid future recruitment delays, critics argue that continuing appointments and transfers without measurable progress on land acquisition or construction raises legitimate concerns about coordination, oversight and public accountability.
Beyond the political debate, the underlying healthcare need remains significant, with residents of Khajrana, Musakhedi, Tejaji Nagar, Bicholi Hapsi and neighbouring areas still awaiting the hospital that was expected to ease pressure on Indore’s already burdened government healthcare system.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The Khajrana Civil Hospital story is not merely about a building that does not exist it is about the wider gap that can emerge between public promises, administrative procedures and people’s lived realities. While the government’s explanation that healthcare workers have been productively deployed elsewhere is important and deserves recognition, the episode also highlights the need for stronger coordination between infrastructure planning, land management and human resource administration.
Public institutions function best when transparency accompanies efficiency, allowing citizens to understand not only what has gone wrong but also how authorities intend to resolve it. As India’s cities continue to expand and demand for quality public healthcare grows, timely execution of infrastructure projects becomes just as important as sanctioning budgets or creating posts.
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