A cancer centre that was set up by Forward Bloc leader Kamal Guha in Cooch Behar over 30 years ago and is being run by a trustee board should be taken over by the state government and run as a unit of the local medical college, residents have demanded.

Guha, a minister in the Left Front government, had in 1989 taken the initiative to set up the cancer treatment centre near Salbagan on the outskirts of Cooch Behar town. It was inaugurated by then chief minister Jyoti Basu.

“Since then, the centre is being run by a board of trustees. Our party MLA, Udayan Guha (Kamal Guha’s son), is one of the members. The board recently wrote to the state government, requesting that the health department acquire the centre,” said Partha Pratim Roy, a local Trinamul leader.

Patients from Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts, and also from lower Assam and Bangladesh, seek treatment at the cancer centre.

“The centre could not be modernised because of funds constraints. It needs new equipment and facilities. The tele-cobalt machine required for therapy is in a bad shape and oncological surgery had to be stopped a long time ago,” a source at the centre said.

“That is why the acquisition proposal was mooted and sent to the state health department. We have suggested that the cancer centre be run as a unit of the MJN Medical College and Hospital (MJNMCH) that the state has set up in Cooch Behar town,” the source added.

Around 250 patients receive treatment at the cancer centre every month. There are 37 employees.
“The state government had earlier provided some financial assistance but it would be a huge help if the government takes over the centre to facilitate better treatment for cancer patients in the region,” the source said.

A few weeks ago the state government had announced that it would set up two state-of-the-art cancer hospitals in Bengal in association with the Tata Group, one of which would come up on the premises of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on the outskirts of Siliguri.

On Friday, Partha Pratim Roy, chairman of the patient welfare committee of the MJNMCH, and Rajeev Prasad, the vice-principal, visited the cancer centre at Salbagan.
“We checked out the infrastructure and the facilities. A report will be sent to the state health department as the board that runs the centre has submitted a written request for acquisition,” Roy said.