'Kerala will definitely get AIIMS'; Suresh Gopi's assurance gives hope to various districts

NEW DELHI: Several years have passed since Kerala started its wait for an AIIMS (ALL India Institute of Medical Science). The state's hope for an AIIMS increased when the BJP opened its account in Kerala in this year's Lok Sabha elections and Suresh Gopi became a Union Minister. Kerala had hoped that the Centre would announce various projects for the state in addition to AIIMS in this year's union budget. However, just like the previous budgets, this year's budget also left the state disappointed.

In response to the journalists' observation that the state was not granted AIIMS this year either, Union Minister Suresh Gopi stated that he is confident the state will soon receive AIIMS. He said that in order to get AIIMS, the state government should acquire sufficient land and hand it over to the Centre. When the journalists pointed out that the state government had acquired nearly 150 acres of land in Kinalur in Kozhikode, he replied that that land was not sufficient to set up AIIMS.

AIIMS will be set up on the land proposed and acquired by the state government. The LDF government demands that AIIMS should be established in Kozhikode district. It acquired 150 acres of land in Kinalur keeping this in mind. However, it is learnt that both the central government and the BJP are not interested in establishing AIIMS in Kozhikode. In Kerala, even the LDF and UDF do not have a unanimous opinion in setting up AIIMS in Kozhikode.

Recently, Kasargod MP Rajmohan Unnithan had demanded that AIIMS should be set up in the Kasargod district, which lags behind in treatment facilities. He openly raised this demand in a meeting of Kerala MPs called by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ahead of the budget session of the Parliament. However, Congress leader and Kozhikode MP MK Raghavan is in favour of the state government's stand on the issue.

Raghavan is a leader who has been working to establish AIIMS in Kozhikode from 2014 soon after the Centre promised to establish AIIMS in the state. Anyways, with the Union Minister saying that the 150 acres of land acquired in Kozhikode is not sufficient to set up AIIMS, the hopes of other districts are rising. Considering the availability of land, the establishment of AIIMS is feasible in Kasaragod, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram districts. However, the state government's stand on the matter will be crucial.