Centre must fulfill budget promises to Kerala, including AIIMS: Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he hoped the Centre would fulfill its promises to Kerala, including the establishment of an AIIMS, in the union budget, and stressed the need to tackle coastal erosion on a war footing.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he hoped the Centre would fulfill its promises to Kerala, including the establishment of an AIIMS, in the union budget, and stressed the need to tackle coastal erosion on a ''war footing''. Tharoor said that while the loss of even an inch of land to a foreign country such as China triggers discussions on ''war'' and ''threats to national security'', the large-scale erosion of coastal areas-referred to as parts of ''Bharat Mata''-caused by the sea does not receive similar attention. He said he had been raising the issue of coastal erosion in Parliament and with the prime minister for several years. ''The central government says it is the responsibility of the state, while the state government says it does not have the funds,'' Tharoor told reporters, expressing hope that the union budget would address the issue. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram also said unemployment was another major concern facing the country and hoped the budget would include measures to tackle it. Referring to the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala, Tharoor said the establishment of the institute was promised around 15 years ago, but is yet to be realised.