Newly elected CPI(M) district secretary P. Rajeev, MP, has said the proposed cancer centre in Kochi should come up in the public sector as a joint initiative of the Central and State governments.Addressing a meet-the-press at the Press Club on Friday, Mr. Rajeev warned of strong protests against any move by the State government to pursue the public private participation (PPP) mode for the proposed cancer centre.
He said the cancer centre project was missing, except for a fleeting mention, from the proposals given to the Centre jointly by the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr. Rajeev said the proposals with the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda that he accessed were for elevating the Regional Cancer Centre at Thiruvananthapuram to a national centre and the cancer centre at Kozhikode to a regional centre.No detailed project report (DPR) for the Kochi cancer centre had been handed over to the Union Health Ministry.
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The Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation (HSCC) Limited had initially drawn up a DPR pegging the investments at Rs. 400 crore instead of Rs. 2,000 crore as decided. However that was not adequate to win assistance from the Central government, which may expect the State to fund such low investment projects, Mr. Rajeev said.He said Kochi doesn’t need a cancer centre in the PPP mode since it would only add to one of the many facilities in the private sector.