Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday directed the State departments of Health and Medical Education and Research to chalk out comprehensive development plan to sanction additional funds for Government medical hospitals.
Badal, taking the decision in a meeting with Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) director Dr Rajendra A Badwe, stressed on a plan to provide additional funds to the Government Medical Colleges in the State “which could be utilised optimally as per requirement for maintenance of hospitals attached to them without any sort of inordinate procedural delay”.
TMC director Dr Badwe expressed concern over loss of glory of Government Medical Institutions over past few years due to poor maintenance and dilapidated infrastructure that resulted in diverting general public towards private hospitals for getting health care facilities.
To deal with the situation, he suggested that it could be more appropriate if the State Government could evolve some new mechanism giving free-hand to the administration of medical institutions to utilise these funds on its own as per the felt needs of concerned institution.
Dr Badwe also apprised the Chief Minister about present status of Cancer Hospital (Cancer Care facility Centre) at Sangrur, where construction work was in full swing and about 60 per cent of the construction has been completed. “The entire construction work would be completed besides installation of equipment or infrastructure by the end of September this year to make it fully operational by December 2014,” he added.
On Dr Badwe’s request, Badal also gave his approval to sign MoU between the State Government and TMC about running Sangrur Centre, and asked him to draft the same.
Regarding upcoming state-of-the-art `450 crore super specialty Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (HBCHRC) at Mullanpur, Dr Badwe informed that after the completion of tendering process, construction work would be completed within 28 months. He informed that the Forest department had already planted about 1000 saplings in along with the boundary of TMC.
Badal said that the State Government has already declared a war against the menace of cancer with an objective to eliminate it with all-out efforts to ensure world class best cancer treatment and diagnostic facilities to the patients inflicted with this deadly disease at affordable rates.
He also assured TMC director that state government would also arrange requisite residential accommodation for staff members both at Sangrur as well as Mullanpur. Badal said that a separate road for Mullanpur hospital would also be constructed for the smooth execution of civil works.