Lack of follow-up costs state AIIMS

Thiruvananthapuram: The efforts of the state to get an All India Institute of Medical Sciences  fell flat this year also due to the lack of proper follow-up by  the state.

It may be recalled that  Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda had given an assurance of sanctioning  an AIIMS for the state soon. In fact, the Union Minister while laying the foundation stone for a Rs 150-crore super-specialty block for Government TD Medical College in  Alappuzha on February 20 had reiterated the commitment for starting the AIIMS in  the state.

The state government had earlier identified some locations for the AIIMS, including open jail compound at Nettukaltheri in Thiruvananthauram district,  land with the industries department at  Kinalur in Kozhikode, land belonging to the medical college in  Kottayam, and the HMT land at Kalamasserry in Ernakulam district.

All the places  have the required 200 acres of land needed for setting up AIIMS. However, the union government had made it clear that it  did not want to upgrade an already existing medical college into AIIMS.

Dr N.K. Sanilkumar of the Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Movement, who was in the forefront of the campaign for an AIIMS, told Deccan Chronicle that the  state government should have presented a concrete project to the Union Government long before the Budget. However, the proposal was presented only at  the last movement, Dr Sanilkumar said.

Last year also the state could not get the sanction for the AIIMS as  the process of seeking approval was delayed, Dr Sanilkumar said.