The cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for signing an agreement for setting up a state cancer institute at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS).

'The cabinet gave its approval to the health department's proposal for signing a tripartite agreement between the central and state governments and IGIMS for setting up the institute at IGIMS premises,' cabinet secretariat department principal secretary B. Pradhan told reporters.

As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU), the cancer institute would be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 120 crore in which the Centre and the state government would bear 75 and 25 per cent cost, respectively, Pradhan said.

In its edition on November 19, 2014, The Telegraph published that the Regional Cancer Centre at the IGIMS would be upgraded into a state cancer institute.

The decision has come as big relief for cancer patients who can hope for better treatment in the state. 'At present, all types of cancer treatments are not available at the state-run or private hospitals. Cancer patients are forced to go outside Bihar. The proposed institute would provide latest facilities under one roof to treat malignancy of all types,' IGIMS medical superintendent S.K. Shahi had said.

The state cancer institute at IGIMS would have different departments, including medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiation therapy unit. At present, the Regional Cancer Centre at IGIMS only provides radiation facility. Patients requiring surgery cannot be admitted there. Once it is upgraded to state cancer institute, surgeries can be conducted,' IGIMS director N.R. Biswas had said. It came up as Cancer Treatment and Research Centre in 1996 and was renamed Regional Cancer Centre in 1999.

The cabinet also gave its approval to action taken report on Madhubani police firing in which two persons had been killed while over a dozen had got injured on October 12, 2012, Pradhan said.

The incident occurred after a story surfaced about the sudden disappearance of one Prashant Kumar Jha from Madhubani with his girlfriend. Agitated over police inaction, the local residents indulged in violent protests triggering police firing. The one-man commission of inquiry headed by Justice (retd) Udai Sinha conducted the probe and submitted its report to the state government on September 30, 2014, in which it found the incident of 'police firing as justified and not excessive'.