Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to immediately direct the Department of Atomic Energy, GoI for setting up a state-of-the-art Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in the state under the aegis of Tata Memorial Hospital and Cancer Research Institute, Mumbai and assured of fulsome support and cooperation on behalf of the state government.In a communiqué to Dr. Singh, the Chief Minister sought his personal intervention to establish a Cancer Hospital in Punjab as a part of state government’s concerted efforts to curb the growing trend of cancer from the state especially in the Malwa belt. . Badal said that he recently visited the Tata Memorial Hospital & Cancer Research Institute, Mumbai and have detailed deliberations with its Director, Dr. Rajendra A Badwe and his team for establishing a Cancer Hospital in Punjab.
The Chief Minister apprised Dr. Singh that the Cancer had assumed an alarming proportion in the state of Punjab especially in the Malwa belt due to excessive use of pesticides. Its irony of fate that the Punjabi farmers who have enormously contributed to make our country self reliant in the food grain production had now fallen prey to this deadly disease. Since the treatment and diagnosis of Cancer was very expensive and beyond the reach of a common man. Henceforth, it was our bounden duty to provide them the best available treatment at affordable rates. Persons inflicted with Cancer have to go to Chandigarh, Delhi, Bikaner and Mumbai for their treatment. “The gravity of the situation could be well understood from the fact as the people of Malwa region have now been commonly referring the train from Bathinda to Bikaner Express as Cancer Express”, added Badal .