The work was supposed to start in Coochbehar’s cancer center in January. 35 crore was allocated to this project. But apart from the services, Tata-Ambani-Mayocare’s Indian start-up Karkinos Healthcare has not spent a single rupee on developing the infrastructure of the cancer center. Therefore, cancer patients and their families are sad in the new year. There is doubt whether the center will open at all.
There are some problems with the land, as per the statement of Dr Javed Akhtar, the official of the start-up company. We cannot do anything until it is handed over to us. Once the land is handed over to us, the work will be done quickly.
After a long tussle, it was decided to hand over the Cooch Behar Regional Cancer Center, which was suffering from a lack of infrastructure to private hands. Till now the concerned trust was in charge of managing it with government assistance. Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and Karkinos Healthcare, a partnership of Mayo Clinic of America, came forward to acquire it. Officials of the organization first visited the cancer center in July last year. Then there were phased meetings to complete the acquisition phase. It was said that MOU will be completed by October. After that, the organization will expand the infrastructure of this center and provide all types of cancer-related treatment services at low cost. It was renamed Kamal Guha Memorial Regional Cancer Center managed by Karkinos. So far everything was fine. But the land problem was left out.
Cancer patients and their families were hoping to get benefit from the opening of a cancer center near their homes. But that hope has been dashed for now. A relative of a cancer patient in Cooch Behar says he often has to go to Mumbai for treatment. “Earlier I knew in the newspaper that the cancer center here will be opened. I thought it would be possible to get treatment at home at a low cost. But what where!”
In the first phase, the company promised to install some new machines including linear accelerators, CT scans and appoint doctors. It was informed that ICU, operation theater and all the accessories will be built. Altogether the initial allocation was Rs. 35 crores. But after a few months, the center was not handed over due to land-related complications. As a result, the organization could not spend even 35 paise.
Secretary of Cooch Behar Regional Cancer Center Trust and North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha accepted the land issue. His assurance, a land-related issue has yet to be invested. Efforts are underway to resolve the issue as soon as possible.