Thiruvananthapuram: Union health minister J.P. Nadda has informed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the Centre has no plans to set up the promised All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the state immediately. Mr Nadda said this in reply to Mr Pinarayi’s letter which was sent on June 16.
The state government had identified four locations for establishing the AIIMS in the state. The CM had sought the intervention of a special team of officials to study the four locations and reach a conclusion so as to expedite the process. But after four months, the LDF government has received a setback with Mr Nadda’s letter. Though the letter states that the Centre would later review the state government’s proposal, there is no assurance on whether it can be implemented at a later stage.
Talks for an AIIMS in Kerala were going on since the previous UDF government's tenure. It may be recalled that during the 2014 and 2015 Union budgets, the BJP government at the Centre had announced that four states will get AIIMS. Later in 2015 and 2016, the Central government included another six more states. But there has been no mention of Kerala getting the AIIMS.
During the first visit of Mr Pinarayi Vijayan to New Delhi after he took over as Chief Minister, he had held talks with Mr Nadda on the AIIMS issue. With no sign of AIIMS being established in Kerala, the CM shot off a letter to Mr Nadda reminding him about the state's proposal. The then LDF Opposition had criticised the UDF government for its apathy in the matter. But now the LDF government has been caught on the wrong foot.
