Kerala will renew its demand for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after the Centre told the high court that the state is not currently under consideration for the project, state health minister K Muraleedharan said. The state government plans to write to Union health minister J P Nadda and press for the selection of a site from a list of 10 locations it has already submitted.
Muraleedharan said there would be no retreat from the demand and that Kerala would exert further pressure on the Centre. He described the Centre’s position as involving “double standards” and alleged that political differences between the Union and state governments were influencing the decision. These allegations were made by the minister and were not independently established in the report.
According to the state government, the Centre had earlier indicated that Kerala had provided only one possible location for the institute. The state subsequently offered 10 sites, but the Centre has now taken the position that states lagging behind in healthcare should receive priority for upcoming AIIMS projects and that Kerala is not currently under consideration.
The renewed demand follows proceedings in the high court, where the Centre communicated its position on the prioritisation of AIIMS projects. The court questioned whether Kerala’s comparatively advanced healthcare sector should be used as a reason to deny it an institute. Chief Justice Soumen Sen also questioned whether a densely populated state such as Kerala should not receive an AIIMS.
The proposed institute is part of a wider dispute over how national healthcare infrastructure should be distributed between states. Kerala’s government argues that the state’s healthcare performance should not exclude it from consideration, particularly when it has identified multiple potential sites. The Centre’s stated approach, as reported in the court proceedings, is to prioritise states that are lagging in healthcare.
The state is also considering coordinating pressure through MPs from Kerala. Muraleedharan said he could travel to New Delhi for another meeting with Nadda if required. He had previously met the Union minister, and the state government has said that an assurance was given at that time that Kerala would be considered for an AIIMS.
The demand has also acquired a political dimension. Union minister Suresh Gopi had earlier said he would not seek votes in Kerala in the next election unless an AIIMS was sanctioned for the state. The latest move by the state government is to submit the demand again to the Union health ministry and seek consideration of one of the 10 proposed sites.
