Charity begins at home—and indeed it does for Odisha natives Subroto Bagchi, the Mindtree co-founder, and his wife Susmita. The couple has pledged Rs 340 crore to build a 250-bed cancer hospital and research centre as well as a 100-bed palliative care unit in Bhubaneswar. The Odisha government will allocate 20 acre each for the Bagchi-Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Institute and the Bagchi- Karunashraya Palliative Care Centre. The hospital will be ready by 2024.
Reports say 25 per cent of the beds at the cancer hospital will be set aside for free treatment and equal per cent will be reserved for patients under government schemes. The beds at the palliative care centre, set up by the Karunashraya Hospice Trusts, will not be billed. Treatment will be free.
Bagchi, who co-founded one of India’s leading IT and outsourcing firm, and is chairman of Odisha Skill Development Authority, is excited about the two projects that would put the state on the top tier for cancer treatment. “It is a small gesture to pay back to our home state,” said Susmita, chairperson of Odisha’s Mo School programme, about the latest donation. The couple has donated generously for different charity initiatives in the state—including Rs 10 crore to the chief minister’s relief fund for COVID-19 management last year.
