Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Punjab on Wednesday and inaugurate Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Tight security arrangements have been made by the Punjab Police for the high-profile visit to Mullanpur in Mohali, officials said on Tuesday.
Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre has been built by the Central Government at a cost of over Rs 660 crore. It is a tertiary care hospital of 300-bed capacity and is equipped with modern facilities to treat all types of cancers using every available treatment modalities like surgery, radiotherapy and medical oncology - Chemotherapy, immunotherapy and Bone marrow transplant, read a statement.
The project is significant since there have been numerous reports of increasing cancer prevalence in parts of Punjab and people being forced to go to other states for affordable cancer treatment. This issue was so rampant that a train from Bathinda was known as a Cancer train.
The hospital will act as a hub of cancer care. A 100-bedded cancer hospital by Centre is functional since 2018 in Sangrur.
CONG MLA SEEKS SPECIAL PACKAGE FROM PM TO SAVE PUNJAB FROM BANKRUPTCY
Senior Congress leader, former Minister, and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh on Tuesday urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a special package to save Punjab from bankruptcy. Welcoming the Prime Minister’s visit to Punjab on Wednesday, Rana Gurjeet hoped that Punjab will not be disappointed this time like eight months ago when he (the PM) unfortunately could not attend the programme in Ferozepur much to the loss of the State.
“My party affiliations notwithstanding, I welcome the Prime Minister into Punjab...It is indeed an honour for the state as he will obviously announce several projects for the State,” he said. Drawing the Prime Minister’s attention to precarious fiscal condition of the state, he said that it was extremely unstable as the present dispensation was resorting to over-expenditure against massive revenue deficit. “The situation is being pushed to bankruptcy as the fiscal future of the state is very bleak”, he said.
The Congress leader said that the unemployment rate was increasing day by day and so was the frustration among the youngsters. “The increasing crime, deteriorating law and order and the brain-drain are the root cause of this scourge and it needs to be addressed on an urgent basis”, he added.
SAD CALLS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF TWO SUPER-SPECIALTY CANCER HOSPITALS IN AMRITSAR, JALANDHAR
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday called for establishment of two super-specialty cancer hospitals in Amritsar and Jalandhar under the aegis of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Mohali, being inaugurated by the Prime Minister on Wednesday, while congratulating Punjabis on the successful completion of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s dream project.
Former Minister Bikram Singh Majithia also welcomed the Prime Minister for the inauguration of the prestigious project besides noting the contribution of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in approving it. “It is also a red letter day for Punjab that the war on cancer initiated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had resulted in the successful completion of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. Parkash Singh Badal personally visited the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC) and requested its Board to establish the Homi Bhabha hospital in Mohali and it became the first such Institute to be approved by the TMC Board outside Mumbai. We are also proud that the erstwhile SAD led government allotted fifty acres of land for the Institute in Mohali,” he said.