The main gates of Chandigarh’s two main hospitals will be shut when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reaches here on Monday to inaugurate a Cancer hospital at Mullanpur, situated at a little distance away from the two hospitals.
Due to security considerations, the Chandigarh Police have ordered the closure of the main gates of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH) at Sector 16 during the visit. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of a Rs 450 crore cancer hospital and research centre being set up in collaboration with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on the lines of the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, on Monday.
Being a week day, thousands of patients are expected to visit the hospital and they would be inconvenienced due to the closure of the main gates. Though side gates are open, the patients and their relatives would likely to have a difficult time locating them. The Prime Minister’s visit to Chandigarh in November 2011 had drawn criticism when a vehicle carrying a critical patient was caught in a traffic jam near the PGIMER due to the VVIP visit and the 32-year-old patient died for want of timely treatment. Security personnel blocked the vehicle as the Prime Minister was attending a function at the PGIMER.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of Super Specialty Cancer Treatment and Research Centre at Mullanpur as officials said all arrangements for the function have been completed. The upcoming cancer hospital would be developed and established by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) on the lines of Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai at the cost of Rs 450 crore, a State Government spokesman said.
The Punjab Government had given 50 acres of prime land in Mullanpur on the outskirts of Chandigarh free of cost for this prestigious institute. The institute would provide the best health care and diagnostic facilities to the patients afflicted with cancer in the region, the spokesman said. A waterproof canopy has been set up at the venue for the VVIP guests, officials said adding that three temporary helipads have also been constructed for the PM’s visit.