LS member demands setting up of AIIMS in Kerala

Kerala has been demanding an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the state for a long time.

V K Sreekandan, who represents Kerala's Palakkad constituency in the Lower House, said Palakkad will be the ideal place for the AIIMS and that an institution has expressed its willingness to offer its giant campus spread over 500 acres for the AIIMS.

Having an AIIMS would also help in putting an end to incidents of infant child mortality in Attappadi, a tribal area where there is lack of medical care facilities, the member said.

Besides, Sreekandan said the AIIMS would benefit people of Kerala as well as Tamil Nadu. Palakkad is located near Tamil Nadu.

He raised the issue as a matter of public importance under Rule 377.

In July, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the state's demand for an AIIMS.

''We discussed the demand for AIIMS in Kerala and the Prime Minister was very positive in his response,'' Vijayan had said after the meeting in July.