Aarogya Samvad Yatra begins in Nanded; Minister Abitkar to visit hospitals for 35 days

The Public Health Department's statewide 'Aarogya Samvad Yatra' begins in Nanded today, November 1. The department says its aim is to bring good, accessible and reliable health services to people in both villages and cities.

The yatra will start with the inauguration of the new rural hospital at Wadi Bu. (Pawdewadi). Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Prakash Abitkar will be present on the occasion. The inauguration will be held in Shinde's presence and under Abitkar's chairmanship. It is said that this will bring health services closer to people in the surrounding area.

The yatra will run in different districts of the state from November 1 to December 5, 2026, a full 35 days. During this period, Health Minister Prakash Abitkar will personally visit government health institutions and assess their services. He will speak directly to doctors, health workers, patients and members of the public to understand the problems in the health system.

On the first day, Abitkar will visit the sub-district hospital at Himayatnagar and chair a meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti (patient welfare committee). The facilities available at the hospital, stock of medicines, medical staff and arrangements for treatment will be reviewed. He will then go to Walkewadi and Daregaon Tanda to talk to local residents and farmers.

In Nanded, he will visit the district women and children's hospital. Work on the modern 500-bed hospital sanctioned under an Asian Development Bank (ADB) project will also be reviewed.

He will visit primary health centres in Loha tehsil to see their services. In Nanded, the minister will also visit hospitals linked to the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and speak to patients undergoing treatment. He will look into how the scheme is being implemented, what treatment facilities are like and what difficulties patients face.

Throughout the yatra, government health institutions in the state will be reviewed for medicine stocks, medical equipment, presence of doctors and health workers, cleanliness, hospital management and treatment facilities.

According to the department, the main objectives of the yatra are to remove shortcomings in services through direct conversation with citizens, patients and health workers, to take the benefits of government health schemes to eligible beneficiaries, and to make public health services stronger, better and more useful to people.