SHILLONG: After much delay, the state government will meet officials of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Mumbai in July to make the cancer wing of the Shillong Civil Hospital functional.
Health Secretary Pravin Bakshi said on Friday that since the civil works had been completed, the next step is to meet the DAE officials for procurement of necessary equipment.
The state government wants a public-private partnership mode to run the cancer wing and for this, Expression of Interest or Request for Proposal will be made to select the private agency.
Though Health Minister AL Hek had met Healthcare Global Enterprises Ltd (HCG), Bengaluru in this regard in the past, the law department is of the opinion that a tender will have to be called as part of the selection process.
An official source said since DAE had sanctioned funds for the cancer wing of the civil hospital, the state health minister will lead a delegation of officers to Mumbai to pursue the matter.
Last week, DAE officials had visited the cancer wing.
Bakshi said the purpose of the visit to DAE is to get additional funds for the installation of equipment as the cancer wing will also work as a radio therapy centre.
Recently, the Tribal Affairs Ministry sanctioned Rs 300 crore to initiate steps to have a mechanism to check radiation after the installation of the equipment as per the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.
It was in 2008 that an MoU was signed with DAE for starting the cancer wing but the work started only in 2011.
The DAE had earmarked over Rs 26 crore and out of this, Rs 10 crore was released for the construction of the building and the remaining will be sought for procuring equipment.
