THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Union Budget 2019-20 coming up before the Lok Sabha on Friday, the state’s health sector has high hopes. The general feeling is that one of the state’s demands of having an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will come true this time. Of the 22 AIIMS operating or being established across the country, 15 were announced during Budgets since 2014. During the interim Budget 2019-20, Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced an AIIMS in Haryana.
“The state had the right to claim AIIMS. Whatever be the health parameters, the state is a front runner for the institution of national importance. It is deplorable that despite the state’s pole position in the health sector, the successive governments at the Centre overlooked the demand for an AIIMS,” said a senior officer of the Health Department. He further said a recent meeting between Health Minister K K Shailaja and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in June will help the state’s prospects in the 2019-20 Budget.
According to State Planning Board member B Ekbal, “An AIIMS-like institution could bring in remarkable changes to the health sector especially when our second generation and third generation are facing various health issues.”
The other major change is that it could bring specialty and super specialty medical courses also. As the state will have financial constraints to start PG courses in new areas, AIIMS will facilitate Central assistance and this will improve the medical education in the state. “There is no specific criteria for allotting AIIMS. Often it’s out of political clout or pressure exerted by MPs. But if a criterion is set, then Kerala will become the first state to have an AIIMS,” said Ekbal. The state had earlier identified locations for setting up AIIMS.