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Mumbai doctors give push to Varanasi hospital project
The Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi is a unit of Tata Memorial Centre.
Cancer centre built in record 10 months; takes load off Tata Memorial Hospital in city
Built in 10 months, the 352-bed Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre in Varanasi has made it to the India Book of Records for being the largest cancer hospital built in the least amount of time. While the hospital will take a large amount of patient load off Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), it is the TMH doctors who have played a crucial role in setting up the Varanasi hospital.
Dedicated staff
Spread across 5.86 lakh sq. ft, the hospital was built in record time, from April 4, 2018, to February 7, 2019, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after. “The Tata Trusts carried out the civil work while the doctors from TMH played a role in the instrumentation, designing and training the medical staff,” said Dr. Rajendra Badwe, director of Tata Memorial Centre (TMC). He said that the Varanasi hospital now has a dedicated medical staff of 15 surgeons, six radiation oncologists, and five medical oncologists. “While the staff is now equipped to handle all routine cases, doctors from TMH will visit the hospital for four days every fortnight for intervention in complex cases,” said Dr. Badwe.
The hospital, he said, will cater to people from eastern and central Uttar Pradesh, northern Bihar and parts of Chhattisgarh. “We had also started a cancer registry in Varanasi and Muzaffarnagar to understand the magnitude of the problem there,” said Dr. Badwe.
Last year, a 180-bed Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital was opened in Varanasi in place of a dilapidated railway cancer hospital. The Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre has come up in the campus of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), which is about seven km away from the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital. “Normally, a project like this would take over three years to complete. What the Tata Trusts has managed to achieve is great,” said Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, head and neck cancer surgeon from TMH. The Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital will focus on blood, bone and paediatric cancers and the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre will be a dedicated facility for solid tumours in adults. “The TMC had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the BHU after which the land was transferred to the Department of Atomic Energy to make way for the hospital,” explained Dr. Chaturvedi.
Nearly one million new cancer cases are diagnosed in India annually. Mumbai’s TMH handles the highest load of patients, with over 65,000 new registrations every year. According to Dr. Chaturvedi, the incidence of cancer is 100 per lakh people in urban areas and 80 per lakh in rural India.
“With the lifestyle choices that we are making, the incidence is going to rise exponentially. Thus, the best way to offer cancer care would be decentralising it,” said Dr. Chaturvedi. Two-thirds of cancer patients coming to TMH are from out of the city, and this leads to huge out-of-pocket expenditure in terms of travel and stay. He said, “By 2021, the TMC will be running at least six hospitals across the country with over 3,500 beds.”
‘Project buddies’
As per a conventional plan, the Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Cancer Centre was to be ready by 2021. How did the team manage to construct the hospital in merely 10 months then? A member of the Tata Trusts said cross-functional teams with diverse portfolios were set up to collaborate and execute the plan. The team members were called ‘project buddies’.
“Meticulous planning of logistics, material and manpower was done. A dedicated team of engineers and workers were on the job round the clock. We ensured that they were highly motivated and self-driven,” he said.
Resources were integrated and milestones were mapped judiciously. The construction work also involved using the dry composite method instead of the conventional brick-and-mortar technology.
The dry composite technology meant that the walls and wood work were pre-fabricated and brought to the site.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Mumbai / by Jyoti Shelar / March 13th, 2019
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International Women’s Day: The driving force of Lucknow Metro
Jyoti Shukla and Neetu Gupta have been drilled in the do’s and don’ts of Metro operations at the Delhi Centre and now work as train operators for Lucknow Metro. The women are more than proud to be a part of the dream project of Lucknow from its inception. On International Women’s Day, 2019, the two will operate the Metro.
When you board the Lucknow Metro which is all set to be launched, don’t be surprised to find a female train operator in the operator’s cabin.
Jyoti Shukla and Neetu Gupta have been drilled in the do’s and don’ts of Metro operations at the Delhi Centre and now work as train operators for Lucknow Metro. The women are more than proud to be a part of the dream project of Lucknow from its inception. On International Women’s Day, 2019, the two will operate the Metro. When home minister Rajnath Singh will be seated for the first ride of the second phase of the 23-kilometre stretch, Neetu will pilot the train with a male pilot companion, Sushant Sarvare. Jyoti, along with a male pilot companion, Pankaj K Singh will pilot the second train.
Gupta has train-operating experience of 45,000 kilometres. Talking about her initial days she said, “I belong to a small district, Ballia, where life is still very sluggish and laid back. But for me, I always dreamt of achieving something big in my life. Studies took most of my time and Math was my favourite subject. So, the inclination towards technology was evident since childhood. How keenly we follow our dream that’s the key to success. My interests were spotted by my parents at very early age. Being the eldest, I too felt that I should behave like a responsible daughter.”
Shukla, who hails from Mirzapur, feels that there is no end to dreams for any girl, “Yes, a woman has full right to dream and also to fulfil them because at the end of the day, passion matters. I have moved around with my parents to many cities, as my father a retired serviceman now, kept getting transferred. I shifted many places and schools but the dream to be an officer in uniform was always on my mind.”
Gupta feels that only gender equality in every sector will help the nation become a developed country in the truest sense. “When we can have equal work rights in LMRC here, why can’t it be everywhere? Why is it still so difficult for girls from small towns and villages to be given equal opportunity and rights? Many small villages don’t even let girls study, let alone allow them to dream big. Girls are just considered a helping hand to run a household. Only education can change the scenario. The trainees at our centres are so positive and we feel proud training them, irrespective of gender.”
Shukla considers herself lucky that her family, especially her parents, support her and let her take decisions regarding her job and studies.
On being asked where they see themselves five years from now, Gupta was quick to respond, “Definitely not operating a train, because I believe I must have become something big, sitting in some cabin, (laughing). But I am sure that I will see more success in coming days.”
Shukla enjoys training the new batch. “I am happy with whatever little I have achieved but I know this is just the beginning.”
MEN ON THE MAIDEN RUN
The two men who will be operating the metro on the first day along with their female counterparts are Pankaj K Singh and Sushant Sarvare. Both are more than happy to be part of the venture from initial days.
Singh who has train-operating experience of 28,000 kilometres, feels that in today’s times, no girl is behind in any field, “I come from Agra and have seen women from my city going places. My parents are the reason that I see every woman as an equal and also a competition as in reality they lack nothing. At LMRC, we are friends, but at the same time, we competitors. So, this is the new India all of us youngsters want.”
Singh said that he is blessed to have made a name for himself and his family, “Yes, I am proud that today I have reached a place in my life and my choice of career is bringing in good results. My family is proud of me and my achievements. For me, it was my father and elder sister who were the driving force. My father not only supported me but also let my sister opt for her choice of education and career. She is a headmistress today and we all are so proud and happy for her.”
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Lucknow / by S. Farah Rizvi, Hindustan Times, Lucknow / March 08th, 2019