PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, May 2: Three and a half years down the line, Ranchi Cancer Hospital and Research Centre is in limbo which was to start its operation in November 2020.
The new deadline to start the hospital with a 90-bed capacity was January 26, 2022, which has also surpassed and one of the biggest cancer hospitals in the eastern part of India is still waiting to provide its state-of-the-art facilities to the people of Jharkhand.
The top health officials of the state are also unaware of the fact regarding starting the operations of the hospital.
On the question of when the premier cancer hospital built by TATA will start its operation, Additional Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Singh of the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare said, “I have no idea about that.”
Similarly, the Director-in-Chief of the state’s Health Services, Dr Marshal Aind said that no one has any idea about when the hospital will start.
The previous Raghubar Das government had allotted 23.5 acres of land to the Tatas for a state-of-the-art cancer Hospital to be built in Kanke, Ranchi for a token amount of Re 1 at the request of Tata Trust.
The city also saw the Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata himself present on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony in November 2018 for the proposed 302-bed hospital.
Health Minister Banna Gupta had held a press conference in Jamshedpur on November 14, 2021, accusing the Tatas of occupying the sports ground and vacant land. On November 16, 2021, he held a sit-in against Tata at the statue of Birsa Munda in Jamshedpur, alleging that the group was not fulfilling its social obligations.
The then chief minister of Jharkhand Raghubar Das and Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata in November 2018 had laid the foundation stone of a 302-bed Ranchi Cancer Hospital & Research Centre at Sukurhutu in Kanke.
To be developed on a par with Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Centre, the hospital will have 14 operation theatres and 28 ICUs. The government had also signed an MoU with Tata Trusts under which a special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be formed to run the hospital.
Three members of the SPV will be nominated by Tata Trusts while the other three will be the health minister, chief secretary and health secretary.
Though Meherbai Tata Memorial Hospital in Jamshedpur and RIMS provide cancer treatment, the proposed hospital in Ranchi will be the first in the state to be equipped with the latest facilities.
