Every crumbling classroom wall and broken Anganwadi centre in Maharashtra just got a deadline. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chaired a high-level review meeting at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai, on Friday, 2 October 2026, directing all districts to launch dedicated, time-bound maintenance campaigns for the state's foundational public infrastructure — from schools and residential Ashram schools to Primary Health Centres, ITIs, and Anganwadi centres.

A Six-Month to Four-Year Roadmap for Every District

The meeting was not a routine review. Fadnavis issued a clear operational mandate: every district must prepare layered action plans spanning six months, one year, and three to four years, covering maintenance, repair, and infrastructure improvement across all targeted institution categories. The tiered timeline signals an intent to move beyond ad-hoc patch-up jobs and build a durable public-asset management cycle at the district level.

He directed district-level officials from six departments — Education, Health, Women & Child Development, Tribal Development, Social Welfare, and Technical Education — to work in concert on implementation. Siloed departmental functioning, a persistent bottleneck in large-state governance, was effectively called out as a barrier to progress.

Finance Department Tasked to Frame a Government Resolution on Fund Decentralisation

Critically, Fadnavis directed the Finance Department and concerned Secretaries to issue a formal Government Resolution covering decentralisation procedures, utilisation of District Planning Committee (DPC) funds, and prioritisation of expenditure for these works. The DPC mechanism — a constitutionally mandated channel for district-level planning — has historically been underutilised; anchoring these repairs to DPC funds is a structural move that pushes financial accountability to the district rather than keeping it bottlenecked at the state secretariat.

He also stressed that student accommodation, meals, and basic amenities at residential and Ashram schools must receive 'timely attention and be handled with sensitivity' — a pointed signal given that many Ashram schools, which serve tribal children in Maharashtra's Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, have faced recurring complaints about poor living conditions.

Cabinet Presence Signals Political Weight Behind the Drive

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetratai Pawar and several other cabinet members and senior officials attended the meeting, lending visible political weight to what could otherwise remain a bureaucratic directive. The turnout of ministers from multiple departments reinforces the cross-functional mandate Fadnavis issued from the chair.

Maharashtra runs one of the largest public-school networks in India. Getting its physical infrastructure to match its scale has been a long-standing governance challenge. A coordinated, funded, time-bound push — if it moves from resolution to implementation — could meaningfully improve the daily experience of millions of students and patients who rely on these buildings. The Government Resolution, when issued, will be the real test of intent.