Ranchi: Jharkhand’s health sector got a renewed boost as Rs 200 crore has been earmarked in the annual budget for FY 2026-27, exclusively for cancer treatment in the state.State finance minister Radha Krishana Kishore, while presenting the budget at the state assembly on Tuesday, announced various other ambitious plans to strengthen primary, secondary and tertiary health centres in the state, providing prompt, affordable and quality health services to the people of Jharkhand.A total of Rs 7,990.30 crore has been allocated to the health sector in the current budget, representing a 6.96% increase in the sector’s budgetary allocation compared to FY 2025-26. Of this, Rs 200 crore will be utilised for cancer prevention alone, the finance minister said. In the last fiscal, the health sector was given Rs 7,470.51 crore.In his budget speech, Kishore said that in the last 10 years, cancer cases have been rapidly growing across the state. “For cancer treatment, patients have to travel to other states. Bringing an end to the hardships of the patients, the govt is going to install PET&CT scan machines in five medical colleges and hospitals, so that patients get their tests done in Jharkhand,” the finance minister said in his speech. Emphasising the growing trend of breast cancer cases among women, the govt is also going to install mammography testing machines in the 24 district sadar hospitals in Jharkhand, ensuring early detection and prompt treatment. In addition to this, cathlabs will be established in the medical college and hospitals in the state, Kishore added.He further said that the district sadar hospitals in the state will be upgraded to medical colleges and hospitals in a public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. “In the first phase, Dhanbad, Giridih, Jamtara and Khunti sadar hospitals will be upgraded to medical college and hospitals, while in the second phase, sadar hospitals in Latehar, Sahebganj and Seraikela-Kharsawan will also be upgraded,” Kishore said.
