Union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey today urged the Tamil Nadu government to speed up the process of identifying the location for setting up an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the state, as announced by the Centre some time ago.

Speaking after inaugurating a 230-bedded International Super Speciality Facility at the Sri Ramakrishna Hospital here, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced 20 AIIMS under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), of which six had already become functional.

The Union minister of state for health and family welfare added that six new AIIMS would be ready by March, 2020, another two by 2021, another five by 2022 and one more -- at Pulwama in Kashmir -- by March, 2024.

Choubey also said he had recently asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami to speed up the process to identify the location for the AIIMS in the state.

He asserted that the 11.5-per cent increase in the budgetary allocations, from Rs 47,352 crore last year to Rs 52,800 crore in 2018-19, would help in providing more healthcare services to the common man and poor across the country.

Similarly, there was a 14-per cent increase in the allocations for the National Health Mission, from Rs 21,940.70 crore to Rs 24,908.61 crore this year, with a special allocation of Rs 1,200 crore to focus on the primary health services, the Union minister said.

For the first time in the world, a government had allotted Rs 2,000 crore for the benefit of 10 crore poor and vulnerable families with an insurance scheme of Rs five lakh per family, Choubey added.

Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani was also present on the occasion.