The uncertainty over whether Kerala will get an All India Institute of Medical Sciences-like institute, as promised by the Centre in 2014, has become a topic of political debate once again following a letter written by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda that Kerala’s demand for AIIMS would be considered favourably at a later stage.
However, senior Health officials claimed that the said letter was a “routine reply” to a communication written earlier in the year by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, reminding the Centre about setting up AIIMS in Kerala.
The letter states that the Centre does not propose to set up AIIMS in Kerala immediately but that Kerala’s requirement would be considered at a later stage.
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In 2015-16 Union Budget proposals, Kerala did not figure among the States chosen by the Centre to set up AIIMS.
No site inspection
In 2014, the then Union Health Minister Harshvardhan declared that under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), all States would get AIIMS-like institutions in a phased manner. He later wrote to the Chief Ministers of 13 States including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Punjab, Assam, Karnataka, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Haryana asking them to identify suitable locations for setting up AIIMS-like institutions.
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As per the Centre’s directive, the former UDF government had identified four locations based on infrastructural facilities. Despite several reminders to the Centre, the site inspection was yet to happen.