KOCHI
The Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity has requested the government to name the Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) after the late jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer in view of his immense contributions to setting up the institution here.
The State executive of the forum pointed out that it was his dream to set up an international cancer research centre in Kochi modelled on the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
Prof. (Retd.) K. Aravindakshan, chairman of the forum, said Krishna Iyer’s sustained efforts had resulted in the government takeover of the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, from the co-operative sector in 2013.
The first phase of the CCRC on 12-acres on the medical college campus is nearing completion in the 10th year of the government takeover of the instititution. It will be a fitting tribute and memorial to the legal luminary to name the CCRC building after him, he said.
P.K. Shamsuddin, former judge of the Kerala High Court and advisory committee member of the forum, recalled that people including former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran had earlier suggested naming the CCRC after Krishna Iyer. However, the government has not yet taken a decision on the request from various quarters. “We hope the authorities will take a favourable decision as the institution building is getting ready for commissioning,” he said.
The Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Movement had spearheaded the campaign for setting up the cancer centre and the government takeover of the medical college.
