The Madhya Pradesh state government has appointed 87 staff members to a proposed civil hospital in Indore that has no land or building [1], [2].

This situation highlights a significant gap between administrative planning and infrastructure execution, as public funds are used to maintain a payroll for a facility that cannot provide medical services to the community.

The facility was designed as a 100-bed civil hospital located in the Khajrana area of Indore [1], [3]. According to government records, the project was approved in June 2020 [1]. Despite this approval, no land has been allotted for the site, and no construction has begun [1], [2].

While the physical hospital remains non-existent, the administration has continued to fill positions. A total of 87 staff posts have been sanctioned and filled [2]. Most recent staff postings occurred as recently as June 2026 [3] — six years after the project's announcement.

Because there is no facility to report to, nearly 80 of these employees are currently serving in other locations [1]. The state government has kept these appointments pending the eventual allocation of land, though no timeline for construction has been established [1], [2].

Local officials and political critics said the lack of land allotment is the primary cause for the delay. The discrepancy between the sanctioned workforce and the lack of a physical structure has led to accusations of administrative failure in the Khajrana region [1], [2].

“A proposed 100-bed civil hospital in Khajrana, Indore, exists only on paper.”

This case illustrates a systemic failure in the coordination between the health department and land management agencies. By filling staff positions before securing a site, the government has created a 'ghost' institution where payroll obligations exist without any corresponding public health benefit. This suggests a prioritisation of bureaucratic quotas over actual service delivery.