In one of the biggest philanthropic contributions to the public health sector in Karnataka, the Infosys Foundation is all set to donate ₹80 crore for the construction of a new dharmashala (patients ambulatory home) and other development work in the State-run Kidwai Cancer Institute, Bengaluru.
Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy has come forward to donate the fund for the construction of a ground plus five-storey building and the renovation of the existing dharmashala at the KCI premises. The fund will also to be utilised for the establishment of an operation theatre and purchase of new equipment, KCI Director K.B. Linge Gowda told The Hindu .
A dharmashala
The Infosys Foundation had donated funds to the KCI earlier too. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will lay the foundation stone for the dharmashala in the presence of Ms. Murthy.
Besides ₹80 crore to the Kidwai Cancer Institute, the Infosys Foundation will contribute ₹6 crore for the construction of a dharmashala at the institute’s satellite centre in Kalaburagi, which has been providing diagnostic and radiotherapy treatment. The foundation stone for the building will be laid on May 28 at Kalaburagi.
“The KCI needs more donations from philanthropists to cater to the needs of increasing number of patients every day,” Mr. Gowda said. Realty developer Sipani Daga has also come forward to donate ₹24 crore to the KCI.
The hospital has been receiving 100 patients and 900 follow-up patients daily. It has been providing free food and accommodation for patients for the last four decades. Besides patients from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, Dr. Gowda said a large number of patients from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, and the north-east were being treated here.
More than two-thirds of the patients are from below poverty line families. They are unable to receive optimal care elsewhere because of the high cost of treatment for cancer. “These patients are being treated almost free of cost under various schemes of the State and Central governments,” Dr. Gowda said.
Noting that “80% children-related cases are curable”, Dr. Gowda said patients from Tripura and north-eastern States have been staying in Dharmashala at the Bengaluru centre for 15 months to 20 months for chemotherapy and other types of treatment.
Founded on June 26, 1973, KCI, named after Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, India’s first Minister for Communications in the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet and who had donated 20 acres to the hospital, has been providing treatment to nearly 18,000 new patients and three lakh follow-up cases every year.
