Aim to get AIIMS in Kochi: jurist

Company management and labour unions willing to part with space at HMT to set up AIIMS, says K.V. Thomas, MP.

The discussion organised by the V.R. Krishna Iyer collective on cancer centre and AIIMS for Kochi on Saturday. Photo: Vipin Chandran

Former Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer on Saturday urged the civil society to work towards realising the objective of establishing an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kochi. He also called upon Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to support the move. He was speaking at a meeting organised as part of a movement campaigning for setting up the AIIMS and an International Cancer Institute in the city.

“It is my dream to have both the institutions established in the city,” he said.

Ernakulam MP K.V. Thomas, while pointing out that HMT had enough built-up space to set up AIIMS, said the company management and its labour unions were willing to part with the space. “There is about 83,000 square feet built-up area lying unused inside the property and using this will help curtail the cost of building construction. The State government has already been intimated about it,” he said, adding that the need of the hour was to have a consensus about the location of the AIIMS and then approach the Centre.

Speaking on the occasion, P. Rajeeve, MP, sought to know about the status of an earlier announcement by former Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad about the sanctioning of Rs.45 crore for setting up a cancer centre in Kochi. While holding that it was only the State government that had been financing the project, he also said its detailed project report should be redrawn to make the centre a truly international one.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader A.N. Radhakrishnan said the State government had failed to do any home work or paper work on the project despite raising repeated demands for the AIIMS. Prof M.K. Sanoo wanted the two institutions in Kochi since it was in the Central part of Kerala. Actor Devan, who also attended the meet, stressed on the need for a change in the attitude of the leaders to secure the institutions for Kochi.

Former District Collector K.R. Viswambharan in his introductory remarks said Kochi had enough land for the cancer centre and the AIIMS. District panchayat president Eldhose Kunnappilly, Dr.C.K. Ramachandran, Leela Menon and K.Aravindakshan were among those who spoke on the occasion.