THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Centre skipped Kerala yet again for the allotment of prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) much to the disappointment of the state government and health sector as a whole. As a last ditch effort ahead of budget, the MPs from Kerala had recently reached a consensus on Kinaloor Kozhikode for setting up AIIMS. But that was not enough to get the project.
It was the third time the state has been denied the prestigious institution. The state government had identified four places where land could be allotted for the project: 154 acres in Kinalur in Kozhikode, 195 acres in Arppokkara in Kottayam district, 263 acres in Kallikkad in Thiruvananthapuram and 123 acres in Thrikkakkara in Ernakulam. Health Minister K K Shailaja accused the Centre of neglecting the state’s interests.
“We took up the issue with the Centre several times. After LDF government came to power, the chief minister himself had raised the matter during his two meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I myself held discussions with the union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda more than twice,” she said and reminded that representations had been sent to Centre on various occasions. The project is considered significant for the state as it would bring in investment worth Rs 2,000 crore. All that the state had to do is provide 200 acres of land.
