In a major step towards improvement of infrastructure for cancer cure, Maharashtra tied up with the Tata Trusts Thursday to link all government colleges and medical colleges to the national cancer grid for uniform cancer profiling and quality treatment. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Tata Trusts chairman Ratan Tata signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for this collaboration at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai. [related-post] On the lines of a similar grid developed in the United States, the Tata Trusts has established a national cancer grid that links all existing and proposed cancer care centres to create a uniform line of treatment for cancer patients across the country. Maharashtra is the country’s first state to join the initiative. Fadnavis announced in the Legislative Assembly Thursday that another MoU for development of the country’s first state-run bone marrow registry in Maharashtra was also executed with the Tata Trusts. “This will be a huge gift of hope for patients suffering from blood cancer, sickle cell, thalassemia, and other fatal diseases,” said the chief minister. The CM said the target was to have 50,000 bone marrow donors in the next three years. Ratan Tata was present in the VIP gallery when Fadnavis made a statement on the MoUs in the House. The chief minister said a total of nine MoUs were inked between the government and Tata Trusts on Thursday. The Tata Trusts has agreed to help the government in setting up a Strategic Healthcare Advisory Unit aimed to improve overall healthcare in the state. It will also involve setting up of a hospital information system and a drug supply corporation. The organisation has also agreed to work with the government to curb incidences of malnutrition. The state’s planning department will work with it to develop for ‘model data platform’ for reviewing progress of various flagship schemes. The home department executed another MoU with Tata Trusts for a pilot project involving provision of legal aid, health, and mental health services, training, and skill upgrade within prisons. It has also been decided to reform services at the Nagpur Mental Hospital, which will then serve as a prototype for other similar centres. A joint initiative aimed to bridge the technology-gender divide by improving ‘internet literacy’ in rural Maharashtra has been undertaken too. The ‘Internet Saathi’ initiative will cover women in 1,200 villages in the first phase. “The second phase is aimed at promoting internet literacy among women in another 15,000 villages. The state will be the first to take up a plan to spread internet literacy across its villages,” the CM informed the House. Another MoU was signed to upgrade the skill set of language teachers in rural schools. There shall also be a collaboration for developing ‘model development plans’ for Nagpur and Chandrapur.
