Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya has assured that the Centre will give in-principle approval for setting up All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Kinalur near Balussery in Kozhikode if the State government acquires the required land and hands it over to the Ministry.
This was revealed by M.K. Raghavan, MP, who met the Union Minister in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the proposal of establishing the State’s AIIMS in the district as well as the inauguration of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital.
Mr. Raghavan said that a land had already been identified at Kinalur and Kanthalod villages and its transfer was in progress. Further action from the State government should be expedited, he said.
For the last eight years, Mr. Raghavan has been raising in Parliament, meeting Union Health Ministers and the Prime Minister for setting up the proposed AIIMS in Kozhikode.
He also apprised Mr. Mandaviya of the necessity to establish AIIMS in Kozhikode as tertiary healthcare was inadequate in north Kerala.
The PMSSY block, which was completed while the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power at the Centre and the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the State, will be inaugurated as soon as the State government sanctioned various posts. The Union Health Minister also informed the MP that he will ask the Chief Minister to speed up the appointment of staff.
