Thiruvananthapuram: The state govt will write to Union health minister J P Nadda once again seeking an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for the state, health minister K Muraleedharan said, days after the Centre made it clear that Keralam would not be considered for the project immediately.Muraleedharan said there was no going back on the demand for an AIIMS and that the state would exert further pressure on the Centre. He said the Centre’s stand on the matter amounted to “double standards”. “Keralam will reiterate its demand that the Centre select a site from the list of 10 locations identified and submitted by the state and sanction the institute,” he said.He further said that the denial was a political decision and that the Centre kept making excuses because of its political differences with the dispensation in the state.The minister said the Centre’s initial position was that the state had provided only one location, so more sites were offered. “So, now they have come with a new excuse,” he said.The govt is also considering exerting pressure on the Centre through MPs from the state. The minister said that, if needed, he would go to New Delhi and meet the Union health minister once again.Muraleedharan had publicly expressed his dissatisfaction over the Centre’s continued reluctance to consider the demand despite repeated requests from the state. The minister had earlier met Nadda, and the state govt says an assurance was given then that Keralam would be considered for an AIIMS.The renewed move comes after the Centre informed the high court that states lagging behind in healthcare would be given priority for AIIMS projects and that Keralam was not currently under consideration.The Centre’s stand has drawn criticism from the state, particularly since Keralam had already submitted a list of 10 suitable sites for the proposed institute. During the hearing, the high court questioned whether Keralam’s comparatively advanced healthcare sector should be a reason to deny the state an AIIMS. Chief Justice Soumen Sen also asked whether a densely populated state such as Keralam did not deserve such an institute.Union minister Suresh Gopi had earlier said that he would not seek votes in Keralam in the next election unless an AIIMS was sanctioned for the state.