Kerala will renew its demand for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) with the Centre after being told that the state is not currently under consideration for the project, state health minister K Muraleedharan said. The state government plans to write again to Union health minister J P Nadda and press for the selection of a site from 10 locations it has already submitted.
Muraleedharan said there would be no retreat from Kerala’s demand and that the state would exert further pressure on the Centre. He described the Centre’s position as involving “double standards” and alleged that political differences with the state government had influenced the decision.
The minister said the state had initially been told that it had provided only one location for consideration. Kerala subsequently submitted a list of 10 sites, but the Centre had now cited a different basis for not considering the state immediately, he said.
The renewed move follows the Centre’s submission before the High Court that states lagging behind in healthcare would be prioritised for upcoming AIIMS projects. According to the report, the Centre told the court that Kerala was not currently under consideration under that approach.
The Centre’s position has triggered criticism in Kerala because the state says it has already identified multiple suitable locations for the proposed institute. During the hearing, the High Court questioned whether Kerala’s relatively advanced healthcare sector should be a reason to deny it an AIIMS. Chief Justice Soumen Sen also asked whether a densely populated state such as Kerala did not deserve such an institute.
The proposed AIIMS has been a long-standing demand in Kerala, with the state government arguing that the institute would strengthen its tertiary healthcare capacity. The current dispute centres on the Centre’s criteria for prioritising projects, the suitability of the sites submitted by Kerala and whether existing healthcare performance should affect the allocation of a major national medical institution.
Muraleedharan said the state government was considering mobilising Members of Parliament from Kerala to press the demand in New Delhi. He also said he would meet Nadda again if necessary. The minister had previously met the Union health minister, and the state government has said it received an assurance that Kerala would be considered for an AIIMS.
Union minister Suresh Gopi had earlier said that he would not seek votes in Kerala in the next election unless an AIIMS was sanctioned for the state. The state government’s next formal step is to send another communication to the Union health ministry reiterating its demand and submitting the 10 identified locations for consideration.
