Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said his government had taken the deaths at a hospital in Nanded very seriously, and appropriate action would be taken after a detailed inquiry while denying that there were shortages of medicines and staff.

As many as 31 deaths were recorded at the Dr Shankarrao Chavan Government Medical College and Hospital in Nanded in central Maharashtra in 48 hours since September 30.

Talking to reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting here, Shinde said adequate medicine stock and medical staff were available at the hospital.

Many of the deceased were old people with heart ailments, underweight infants or accident victims, he added.

"The deaths are unfortunate. We have taken the incident very seriously. An inquiry has been ordered and action will be taken appropriately," the chief minister said.

Asked about the caste survey in Bihar and the Opposition's demand for a similar survey in Maharashtra,, Shinde said, "Let's see the results of the survey in Bihar, and if needed, it would be conducted here as well." Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar did not attend the cabinet meeting as he was unwell, he said to a question, adding, "Do not draw any other conclusions." The cabinet reviewed the crop situation in the state and officials were directed to complete `panch-namas' (spot inspection reports) on a war footing where heavy rains have damaged the crops, Shinde said.

For Diwali, the `Anand shidha' or the essential foodstuffs provided through Public Distribution System shops will include maida and poha along with sugar, rava, dal and edible oil, he said.

This package of foodstuffs will be made available at Rs 100 in the 14 farmer suicide-prone districts from October 25 to November 30, and the cabinet approved an allocation of Rs 530 crore for the scheme, the CM informed.

Another decision taken during the meeting was to award scholarships for overseas studies to 27 students from the minority communities every year.

These scholarships would be available for post-graduation courses and PhDs in the fields of science, technology, engineering, pharmacology, life sciences, liberal arts, humanities, agriculture, law and commerce at foreign universities featuring in the first 200 in the QS world rankings, the CM said.

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