<div><strong>By Haider Ali Khan</strong></div><div> </div><div>The government will soon start work on the Rs 2,035 crore National Cancer Institute project, a major public healthcare initiative, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda said.</div><div> </div><div>The prestigious project in Jhajjar, Haryana, will provide 710 beds and offer most advanced care and research in cancer treatment.</div><div> </div><div>Delivering the presidential address at the AIIMS convocation in New Delhi on Sunday, Nadda said his ministry is also set to expand the network of medical colleges in the country in a big way.</div><div> </div><div>In the first phase it is proposed to upgrade 58 district hospitals to medical colleges while 70 medical colleges are being upgraded by adding superspeciality blocks.</div><div> </div><div>This reflects the importance attached by the government to the promotion of high quality tertiary care services and expansion of medical education in the country, the minister said.</div><div> </div><div>Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also spoke at the event, said India is in need of more medical colleges to meet the growing need for doctors and paramedics.</div><div> </div><div>"The country is capable of producing huge talent of human resources in the medical field, and we need to expand quality medical institutions and medical colleges in the country," Jaitley said.</div><div> </div><div>Jaitley also stated that there is a need to look into the policy on organ donation to learn from the best practises across the world, without commercialising it.</div>
