Union Health Minister JP Nadda today laid the foundation stone for India's largest National Cancer Institute at AIIMS campus in Haryana's Jhajjar district and said that the institute will be modelled after NCI in the US.
The minister said that the Cancer Institute in Badsa will be "independent India's largest government-funded hospital project".
Nadda is also the President of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
The project is planned to be completed within three years, he said after preforming 'Bhumi Pujan' ceremony at the site.
"The Cancer Institute will be modelled after the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of USA and the government has already entered into a MoU with NCI USA during the visit of Prime Minister to USA in October 2014," he said.
It is slated to be a premier institution for all cancer-related activities in the country and will have linkages with all regional and cancer centres.
The institute will have 710 beds out of which 200 beds will be dedicated for Translational Research in India-specific cancers.
There will be 372 units of flats and 1,080 hostel rooms for the staff members. A night shelter with a capacity of 800 units meant for the patient attendants is also being planned, the minister added.
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There are more than 80 lakh cancer patients in the world and 29 lakh alone are in India, Union Minister Nadda said quoting an official figure.
About 11 lakh persons are every year detected of cancer.
With a view to prevent and to cure cancer, the government had decided to set up new institutes of advance research activities, he said.
The Centre is also setting up a cancer institute in Kolkata at a cost of Rs 500 crore, Nadda said.
Besides, the government has prepared a scheme for setting up regional cancer institutes, 20 state cancer institutes and 50 tertiary cancer centres all over the country, he said.
Reminding that six All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were set up by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, Nadda said, "Now, we are in the process of establishing 10 more AIIMS under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
"Our endeavor is to detect cancer at early stage so that patients can not only be treated but they can also live a healthy life," Nadda said.
Haryana Chief Minister Khattar on the occasion said that state government would approach National Highways Authority of India for constructing four-lane road between Jhajjar AIIMS and Delhi Airport.
Long route buses would also be started from the AIIMS besides a stadium, Khattar said.
He also announced that adequate arrangement would be made by state's Public Health Engineering Department for ensuring potable water to the people of this area.
Khattar urged Nadda to sanction for setting up a medical college under the AIIMS in Manethi village of Rewari and pace up the work to accord approval for establishment of a cardiac centre and Sports and Fitness Science Centre in AIIMS campus.
With the objective to provide better health care facilities and to meet the requirement of doctors, the state government would also open medical colleges in all 21 districts, the Chief Minister said.
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Meanwhile, Congress' Rohtak MP Deepinder Singh Hooda
has alleged that he was asked "not to attend" the 'Bhoomi Pujan' function of the National Cancer Institute as he was "not invited".
Despite an earlier official invite for the function, someone in the district administration today told him that he was "not invited", Deepinder, son of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told reporters in Rohtak.
"They have not tried to just insult me, but it is an insult to the people of entire Rohtak parliamentary constituency (in which Jhajjar also falls) and our democratic system," he said.
"Even newspaper advertisements today mentioned that everyone was invited to the function and my name was also in it.
But it seems that by everyone, the government means everyone barring Deepinder Singh Hooda," he said.
Taking a dig at the state government, he said, probably the government wanted to avoid any "embarrassing moment" as people know that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone of the National Cancer Institute nearly two years ago.
