After a long delay and missed deadlines, the Tertiary Cancer Care Center (TCCC) in Fazilka will be operational in about two weeks. Construction of the facility began in 2016 and initial plans are to open within two years. However, several problems, including funding shortages and administrative hurdles, led to significant delays.

The management of the center has now been handed over to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot; The state health department cited difficulties, including a lack of doctors, as the reason for its inability to operate the centre.

Dr Sumit Kataria, who oversees TCCC for BFUHS, announced that the outpatient department (OPD) will start in 15 days after the recruitment of a radiotherapist. He explained that the Health Department will provide special software to maintain patient records, allowing individuals to receive treatment anywhere in the state based on their medical history.

Additionally, an oncology surgeon from the cancer hospital in Bathinda will also visit the center every week and chemotherapy services are expected to start in about a month. A cancer detection vehicle will also be deployed to perform mammograms and assist with breast cancer screening in rural areas.

Despite these advances, the university requested 75 million rupees from the state government to purchase the necessary equipment; but no funds have been released yet. Meanwhile, the university plans to use its own funds to purchase a radiotherapy machine from Germany for around Rs 40 million, which is expected to be operational in three to four months.

Fazilka MLA Narinderpal Singh Sawna visited the center recently to assess the progress and assured officials that he would advocate for government funding to support the needs of the facility.