Patna,(BiharTimes): The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday decided to set-up a State Cancer Insttute at a cost of Rs 120 crore at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna. It approved the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) among the Centre, Bihar government and the IGIMS.

The IGIMS director and the State Health Society would soon sign a tripartite agreement with the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The proposed hospital would be set up under the centrally- sponsored National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, CVD and Stroke (NPCDCS). NPCDCS was envisaged during the 12th five year plan (2012-17) by the then Manmohan Singh government to provide support to state government to set up cancer institutes and strengthen, as well as, enhance facilities for diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, research, training, prevention and control of the this disease.

According to the Cabinet Secretariat department principal secretary B Pradhan the Centre would bear 75 per cent of the total cost while the state government would meet the rest 25 per cent cost.

As per the draft agreement which got the nod of the cabinet, the IGIMS would provide free of cost treatment and beds to cancer patients below poverty line (BPL). Reasonable user charges would be fixed with the state government approval for poor patients who may not be from the BPL category.