Construction commences for Jharkhand’s first super speciality cancer hospital

On Saturday, the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das, and the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, laid the foundation stone for Ranchi Cancer Hospital & Research Centre (RCHRC) in Sukurhutu, Kanke.

The Rs 400-crore hospital will be spread across 23.5 acres of land provided by the state government and will be constructed in two phases. The first phase is expected to be completed in two years and will provide 50 beds. Half of the total beds will be reserved for patients from Jharkhand. RCHRC will be on par with the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai.

The government has also signed an MoU with the Tata Trusts to establish a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to manage the hospital. The SPV will comprise the Health Minister, Chief Secretary, Health Secretary, and three other members nominated by the Tata Trusts.

Although Meherbai Tata Memorial Hospital, Jamshedpur and Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi already offer cancer treatment in Jharkhand, this will be the first hospital in the state to be equipped with advanced facilities.

“Lakhs of people die every year due to cancer. The treatment is so costly that people lose the courage to fight back. I appreciate the Jharkhand government’s foresight. Northeast India reports a large number of cancer cases. This hospital will play a major role in saving many lives. I hope that in the next 20-30 years, we will be able to control death due to cancer. We are committed to working with the government,” says Ratan Tata.

The Chief Minister had first requested Ratan Tata to set up a cancer hospital during the Momentum Jharkhand event in February of last year. He states that he has witnessed the poor in Jharkhand dying due to lack of medical treatment, and that many patients are often forced to visit far-off cities like Delhi and Mumbai to avail the treatment they need. He further adds, “I retired as a worker at Tata Group and I can say that the Tatas are the only business house in the country that spends 80 per cent of its total profit in public welfare.”

The Chief Minister also promises that once the new hospital is operational, it will be empanelled in the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.

At the event, Das also requested the Tata Group’s assistance in developing 1,000 panchayats across Jharkhand for which the government would bear half of the total expenditure. Additionally, he requested the Tatas to provide streetlights in Kolhan division. The Managing Trustee of Tata Trusts, R. Venkataramanan, who exchanged the MoU with the Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni, remarked that the Tata Group had a long-standing relationship with Jharkhand.

Global CEO and MD of Tata Steel, T. V. Narendran, revealed that the company had been considering an upgrade to the Meherbai Tata Memorial Hospital in Jamshedpur. “But after the Jharkhand CM proposed a cancer hospital in Ranchi, we agreed. It will be one of the biggest hospitals in the eastern zone,” he said.

Jharkhand Chief Secretary Sudhir Tripathi, who was Health Secretary at the time, expresses a sense of fulfilment knowing that he could contribute to the welfare of the people. According to him, not only the residents of Jharkhand, but also patients from neighbouring states will benefit from the cancer hospital.

This article was first published on The Telegraph