The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) electoral calculations are reportedly playing a role in the Centre dragging its feet on the Kerala government’s proposal to set up an All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the State.
With the Lok Sabha polls just months away, the Union government again placing the proposal on the back burner has led to speculations about the BJP’s plans to gain political mileage out of it. Replying to questions from M.K. Raghavan and M.P. Abdussamad Samadani, MPs, in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said on December 15 that the proposal has not been approved in the current phase of the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.
The Minister also said that the State government had identified and proposed Kinalur in Kozhikode district, Kattakada taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kottayam district and Ernakulam district for setting up the AIIMS in the State.
