By M.K. Mohanraj

Mandya: Thanks to official apathy and callousness of elected representatives, the Mandya Hi-tech Cancer Hospital has remained in limbo despite sanction of funds.

As a convenience to patients from Mandya and surrounding districts, the Government had sanctioned a Hi-tech Cancer Hospital at Mandya in 2014 on the lines of Bengaluru’s Kidwai Memorial Hospital. The Hi-tech Cancer Hospital which is coming up in Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) campus on Mysuru-Bengaluru Road in the heart of Mandya city, has remained incomplete for years, which has led to the public raising eyebrows.

The Cancer Hospital was first proposed in 1996, following which it came up in a small building in MIMS Hospital premises. But this Cancer Hospital was limited to just initial treatment and most often, the patients were referred to Bengaluru’s Kidwai Cancer Hospital.

The idea of a full-fledged Cancer Hospital was conceived when the then Mandya MP Ramya visited MIMS Hospital in 2013. Later, Ramya took up the issue with the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the then Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who sanctioned a Cancer Hospital, with the Central Government bearing 60 percent of the cost and the rest 40 percent by the State Government.

The Hospital was then estimated to cost Rs. 45 crore and was expected to cater to the medical needs of five districts — Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Chamarajanagar and Ramanagara.

As Ramya lost the MP elections in the 2014 Lok Sabha Polls, C.S. Puttaraju who became the MP took up the Hospital cause and was instrumental in preparing the blueprint for the project. He also strived for getting funds released from the Centre, following which works on the construction of the building began.

Later, L.R. Shivaramegowda, who became the MP for a brief period, too pursued the cause and ensured that the works did not stop for want of funds. But years after that, the building remains to be completed, thus shattering the hopes of cancer patients of old Mysuru region, who were in anticipation of a full-fledged Cancer Hospital.

According to MIMS Director Dr. Harish, the works on the Cancer Hospital began in 2017 and still Rs. 5 crore is needed for completion of the building.

Pointing out that Rs. 30.2 crore out of the sanctioned Rs. 45 crore was released then, he said that while Rs. 12 crore was meant for construction of the building, the rest Rs. 18.2 crore was reserved for purchase of equipment. But now, all the Rs. 12 crore meant for building construction has been utilised and still Rs. 5 crore more is needed for its completion, Dr. Harish said and added that the building works will be expedited once the additional Rs. 5 crore needed is released by                                     the Government.

Meanwhile, the apathetic attitude of elected representatives has drawn the ire of people. Accusing the current Mandya MP Sumalatha and other elected representatives, including Mandya MLA M. Srinivas of doing little for getting the funds released, the people have urged netas and the authorities to take interest in the completion of the Hospital project and thus save precious lives of patients who are battling with the dreaded Cancer.