Kochi: The cancer care centre dream of Kochi is slowly and steadily turning to be a reality with the Health Minister V S Sivakumar announcing in the state capital that the foundation stone for the same will be laid within 100 days.
More importantly, the Central government-owned Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) which has been authorised to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for the centre is set to make a presentation this week before Health Secretary Dr K Elangovan and special officer for the centre, eminent oncologist Dr V P Gangadharan, on the project.
The twin moves come as a major fillip to the centre and the people of Kochi are hoping to get a cancer centre of international standards on the Ernakulam Government College campus, though it is not yet clear whether it will have such a stature. For an international cancer institute to come up, the aid of the Central government is essential.
With the Narendra Modi government in place at the Centre, it is to be seen how liberal it would be towards Kochi in sanctioning funds for the cancer centre.
Kochiites hope that the proximity of Justice V R Krishna Iyer to Narendra Modi will come handy for the cancer centre project, since the movement headed by Justice Iyer has long been campaigning for the centre. It is yet to be seen how the new Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan approaches this project.
Considering his pro-active track record as health minister of Delhi earlier, Kochiites are hopeful of getting liberal assistance from the centre for the Kochi international cancer centre.
