Kochi Cancer Centre OP wing next year

KOCHI: The first stage of the Kochi Cancer Centre, its outpatient wing, will start only next year. According to Dr Asha Thomas, special officer of the project, the PWD will need at least two months to ready the building.  

The PWD  has been  entrusted with the task of converting the payward building on the Ernakulam Government Medical College (EGMC) campus for the purpose.

Thereafter, the equipment have to be purchased and installed and doctors and other staff have to be deployed and medicines procured.

Health minister V.S. Sivakumar had promised to open the OP in November this year.

Interestingly,  the building is yet to be handed over to the  special officer or the health department to start work on the OP wing.

Though dues amounting to Rs 2.2 crore to the contractor have been paid, he is yet to be given back the security deposit of Rs 12 lakh which was given to the CAPE. EGMC principal Dr Aswini Kumar told DC on Tuesday that letters had  been sent  to CAPE in this regard.

However, a senior CAPE official told DC that the government had taken over the medical college with its asset and liabilities and it was  for the government to pay back the security deposit as well.

Dr  Asha Thomas told DC that at the ground level the paper work on the project was  progressing and the design of the project was  being prepared by holding discussions with officials.

She, however, said that the Government Order (GO) for registering the society for the cancer centre was  yet to be issued.

According to sources in the health department, the work in this regard is progressing at a slow pace in the department itself.

No GO has been issued regarding the roles and responsibilities of the officials,  including the special officer and technical special officer.

It is learnt that getting Rs 10 crore from Beverages Corporation too will be a laborious process as it is allowed to release the amount in phases under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.

“A way out has to be found for this. The Bevco board has to take a decision. A bond also has to be executed for the purpose with the cancer centre society. The files in this regard too need to move,” said an excise department official who also said that a GO has to be issued in this regard.

Dr Asha Thomas said that ideally there should be an office for the special officer on the medical college campus, but since she is already based in  Kochi heading the Institute of Management in Government here, she was not insisting on it.

She also said that the society to be registered for the Kochi Cancer Centre would  fully follow the pattern of the Regional Cancer Centre.