The Kerala government is reportedly pinning its hopes on some high-level meetings scheduled for later this month to take forward the proposal to set up an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Kozhikode.
This comes against the backdrop of a perceived delay on the part of the Union government in approving the project even as the State is going ahead with land acquisition from local residents in Kinalur and Kanthalad villages for the purpose. Around 150 acres of government land have already been readied for the project.
While replying to a question from John Brittas of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar recently said the proposal had not been approved in the current phase of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. Along with this, apprehensions have also been raised over the new notification issued by the National Medical Commission related to allocation of medical colleges in States. According to the notification, 100 MBBS seats can be allocated for a population of 10 lakh. Kerala, with a population of around 3.5 crore, can get a maximum of 3,500 seats thus. The State already has 21 medical colleges with 4,505 MBBS seats.
