Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurates Deepsikha’s Sishu Ashray Sthal in Guwahati

In a major relief to the cancer patients of the remote areas of the Northeast who cannot afford quality cancer care available in Guwahati, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal dedicated Deepsikha’s Sishu Ashray Sthal to the children afflicted with cancer at a simple function held at Six Mile in Guwahati on Sunday.

It may be noted that Deepsikha’s Sishu Ashray Sthal is an initiative by Deepsikha to bridge a long standing gap in the field of cancer care in the Northeast. Deepsikha’s Sishu Ashray Sthal is an attempt of providing a holistic cancer care infrastructure for the state of Assam and the Northeastern states of India which would lay emphasis on giving support to cancer patients in terms of proper accommodation, hygienic food, transportation to and from the hospitals, counselling, financial support to continue their treatment and many other areas which form the very important non doctoral side of providing cancer care.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sonowal said this venture will help in leading the children suffering from cancer from darkness to light. He also said the endeavour of Deepsikha would greatly motivate the people at large to come forward to lend a helping hand.

Through this initiative of Deepsikha and other philanthropist personalities, the humane paradigm of ‘service to mankind’ gets manifested, Sonowal said.

Divulging a series of steps that the Government of Assam has been taking to provide respite to the cancer patients, Sonowal informed the gathering his government has inked an MoU with Tata Trust for setting up 18 state of the art hospitals across the state. He also said the government in the recent time introduced PET City Scan facility for diagnosis of cancer at an early stage. He also said considering the high rate of prevalence of cancer, the State Government is also considering a plethora of initiatives for holistic cancer care in the state.

Chief Minister’s Media Adviser Hrishikesh Goswami, Chief Information Commissioner of the State Himangshu Sekhar Das, Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia, President Cancer Care India, Dr JK Singh, AASU leader Dr Samujjal Bhattacharjee, Director B Borooah Cancer Institute Dr Amal Kotoky, Keshab Chandra Sarma the donor of the plot of land where Sishu Ashray Sthal has been built, flute maestro Rakesh Chaurasia and a host of other dignitaries were also present at the event.