By Express News Service The capacity of Kidwai Cancer Institute will double in the next 1.5 years as various developments are in store. On Thursday, they inaugurated 5 new operation theatres costing Rs 15 crores, funded by Infosys Foundation. "With the opening of five new operation theatres, in addition to the existing 8, we will have no more waiting lists in Kidwai. Infosys is also funding Rs 50 crores for the construction of 72000 sq feet Out Patient Department Block, which will be inaugurated in September," said Dr C Ramachandra, director of Kidwai Cancer Institute, adding that the entire OPD would be shifted here. An issue they are facing despite all the infrastructure development is shortage of manpower. " In three months we will be filling in the sanctioned posts of 1296 staff for Kidwai in Bengaluru and 58 people in Gulbarga. We will also be going paperless soon. The Rs 12 crore allocated by the state government for Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit will have 20 beds, and we will aim to make this free of cost for the poor," he added. The CM's relief fund is expected to cover for the cost of BMT cases. PET scan unit, multi-level parking, white topping, 200-bedded special ward, addition of 650 more beds are in the pipeline. The institute intends to scale up the number of robotic surgeries it undertakes each day. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy asked the health and medical education department to send a proposal to fill vacancies of sanctioned posts of doctors in government hospitals across the state. He blamed bureaucrats for delaying the implementation of infrastructure projects. A 9-year-old boy from Mysuru who recovered from blood cancer after seeking treatment from Kidwai interacted with the CM along with his father, a car driver by profession. Speaking on the sidelines, Somashekar, father of the boy, said," He was diagnosed when he was 1.5 years and has been seeking treatment at Kidwai since 7 and a half years. Private hospitals we approached at first quoted Rs 40 lakhs which I cannot afford. Even though Kidwai gave treatment free of cost, we still have to spend on medicines from outside and buying units of blood when there is a shortage here. One unit costs Rs 1000." Ramachandra admitted that the shortage of blood was a perennial problem as each patient requires 70 to 80 sachets of blood during the course of treatment. CM promises protection of doctors in Karnataka Commenting on the recent violence against doctors in West Bengal, Kumaraswamy said," In 2006, we brought in a law that would punish those who inflicted violence on doctors by patients. It was a non-bailable offence with 3-year jail term. I will strengthen the law. I will instruct all officials at the Zilla level and even police station to make use of the law to punish the perpetrators." Director of Jayadeva Hospital Dr CN Manjunath who was also present at the event urged the government to send a notification regarding this law to all police stations in Karnataka. "After the recent incidents, nurses, technicians, doctors are scared to work in the ICU because of violence from kin of patients who die. The police need to book such cases. Villages are more dangerous than cities in this respect" Manjunath said. Chairperson of Infosys Foundation, Sudha Murthy said people previously trusted doctors and respected them and such cases of violence were unheard of. She also asked for permission from the government to build an 8 km road in Medina Village, Karwar. Health Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shivananda Patil and Medical Education Minister E Tukaram also addressed the gathering.

Stay updated with all the Bangalore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.