Mumbai: Maharashtra may rank among India’s more progressive states in terms of life expectancy and purchasing power, but its older residents spend far fewer of their remaining years in good health and well-being, says a new study from the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Deonar.Published in ‘Social Indicators Research’, the study ranks Maharashtra 21st among 21 states on a relatively new measure called ‘Years of Good Life’ (YoGL) for people aged 60. “This is surprising because Maharashtra ranks fourth on the Human Development Index (HDI),’’ said Prof Dr Srinivas Goli at IIPS and one of the study’s authors.It’s the first time the YoGL indicator, designed to go beyond GDP and HDI, has been calculated for India’s states. YoGL counts a year as “good” when four conditions are met: the person is above poverty, has no functional limitations, is free from cognitive impairment and is satisfied with life.Researchers from IIPS, the University of Vienna and Princeton University used data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India and mortality data from the Sample Registration System to estimate YoGL across 21 states.At the national level, a 60-year-old man can expect about 8.2 good years out of 17.5 remaining years, while a woman can expect only 5.7 good years out of 19. Urban residents can expect 9.2 good years, compared with 6.1 for rural residents. Rural women are the most vulnerable, with just 4.6 good years out of 18.5 remaining years.Punjab tops on every count, with men recording 12.9 good years at 60. Kerala does best by rural women, who get 10.1 good years. West Bengal records the lowest figure for women, 3.8 years, and Bihar is weak — even its urban residents manage only 7.5.The Maharashtra figures are worrisome. Rural women aged 60 can expect just 2.7 good years— the lowest share among the states studied. Across Maharashtra, only about 21% of women’s remaining life at 60 is expected to be “good”.The researchers describe Maharashtra as an “urban health paradox”. While healthcare infrastructure concentrated in major cities may contribute to longevity gains, sections of the population, including rural residents and slum dwellers, face functional limitations and poverty.“Men and women are losing good life through completely different doors,” said study’s lead author Dr Ruchira Chakraborty. “For men it is the body — heavy manual work and chronic disease that erode functional health early. For women it is cognition, and that traces back decades, to schooling they never received.’’She, however, said southern states, which invested in girls’ education generations ago, are collecting the “dividend now in sharper, healthier older women”.

The amendment, passed recently, for the first time allows the establishment of private health sciences’ universities in the state

Mumbai: Medical colleges aiming to become private universities in Maharashtra must be functioning for more than 20 years. Additionally, they should have a NAAC A+ grade or above and offer postgraduate courses in at least 50% of their disciplines, and these programmes must have been operational for at least 10 years. These were some of the conditions laid down in the eligibility criteria prescribed under an amendment to the Maharashtra Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Act, 2023.The amendment, passed recently, for the first time allows the establishment of private health sciences’ universities in the state. Till now, private universities were permitted to offer only higher and technical education courses, under the Act.Dr Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Foundation’s Medical College in Ahilyanagar and NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Nagpur have submitted their detailed project reports (DPRs) and are being considered for the private university status.The Act allows these universities to fix their own fees, conduct their own examinations, and confer their own degrees. As per the Act of 2023, private universities are not entitled for any financial assistance from govt and its students cannot claim any scholarship.While admissions in these universities will be based on NEET scores too, medical education secretary Dheeraj Kumar said that as per Supreme Court directives, admissions will be through common counselling, either through the state CET cell’s process or the central one conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). “We have written to the National Medical Commission (NMC) and are awaiting their response. If not through MCC, the state cell will carry out the process,” he said.As of now, the colleges have been included in the state’s counselling process, with a disclaimer. Another official added that students will soon get clarity on this year’s admission process.After proposals from a few trusts last year, a committee was formed with representatives from higher education and medical education departments to amend the law to include health science colleges. After the amendment, a scrutiny committee was set up two weeks ago with additional three experts from the medical field to consider the two DPRs.Under the amended law, the trust must have a recognised medical college with an A+ grade in NAAC and a CGPA of 3.01 or higher. The process also requires a no-objection certificate from the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). The institutions will no longer remain under the MUHS.The Act will also cover health science courses such as dental, ayurveda, homeopathy, physiotherapy, nursing, occupational therapy, para medical and other allied science courses. These institutions will continue to be governed by the respective regulatory bodies such as NMC and Indian Nursing Council, among others.In the note citing reasons for the amendment, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil had mentioned, “Health science courses have been started in private universities in other states in the country. There are demands from many institutions to establish private health science universities in the state. The govt considers it expedient to allow private institutes conducting health science courses having long standing experience and excellence, to establish private universities in the state.”Who can become a private health science university?* Medical colleges functioning for over 20 years* Colleges with NAAC A+ grade* More than 50% specialty departments, operational for at least 10 yearsHow many contenders this year?* Dr Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Foundation’s Medical College in Ahilyanagar and NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in NagpurWhat will it mean for students?* Universities to fix their own fees, no regulation by FRA* No scholarships or any financial assistance to students* Colleges will no longer be affiliated to Maharashtra University of Health Sciences* Admissions will be through common counselling, either state’s CET cell or Medical Counselling Committee. Clarity in a few days for the current year’s admissions

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday set aside the state govt’s decision that discriminated against sanitation workers who worked under private employment and died while engaged in the work of manual scavenging. The court held that each such worker’s kin were entitled to receive Rs 30 lakh compensation.Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande directed the state govt to identify within six months persons who had died while engaged in hazardous cleaning as defined under a section of the Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Upon identification, the state government shall pay compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the dependants of each such deceased person in terms of a 2025 Supreme Court judgment, they added.The petition was filed by Shramik Janata Sangh, a workers’ union, along with Raju Madhve, the father of Suraj, a worker who died while cleaning a septic tank in a Mumbra housing society in 2022, and activist Shreyas Pande. They urged the high court to set aside item 11 in the Dec 2019 GR that determined authorities who will pay compensation.Senior advocate Gayatri Singh, with advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, for the petitioners, had argued that item 11 had made private societies liable to pay compensation on death instead of the state or local authorities. They said according to SC’s 2025 judgment, the authorities concerned were responsible for ensuring compensation to dependents of the deceased instead of making private societies liable to pay it. They said the authorities could subsequently recover the amount from the private parties.The judges set aside item 11, along with an April 30, 2025, GR, “in so far as it discriminates against the sanitation workers working at the private establishments under the private contractors as compared to their counterparts working under the state government or state undertakings”.They said that as a consequence of setting aside item number 11, “the sanitation workers in the private sector shall be entitled to compensation from the state government, which can later be recovered from the funds of the respective employers”.The judges directed that the dependants of four deceased sanitation workers whose case the petitioners had espoused—Devidas Chandrakant, Mahadev Zope, Suraj Madhve and Ghanshyam Kori—shall be entitled for compensation from Thane Municipal Corporation “if not already compensated”. As the judgment was pronounced in chambers, a copy was not uploaded at the time of going to press.