Malappuram (Kerala) | Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hailed Kerala's healthcare and palliative care sector as one of the best in the country, and said he was pleased with the level of community participation in Kerala when it comes to healthcare and education.

The Congress MP's praise for Kerala's healthcare system came while speaking after laying the foundation stone of the Pain and Palliative Care

Society building in Thiruvali here. Kerala has been a pioneer in palliative care in the whole country, he said, adding, "It leads the way as far as healthcare and palliative care is concerned." Gandhi expressed hope that the palliative care centre here would be "a small step in taking forward the community healthcare vision of the state". He said he was ready to help in any way he could, but the funds he got as an MP were limited and had to be distributed carefully. Gandhi also reiterated what he said earlier in the day, at the release of a book on the late Muslim League leader P Seethi Haji here, that Wayanad and Kerala were like a second home to him. "I consider it like coming back to my family and meeting my friends. The more I come to Kerala and Wayanad, the more I feel that it is my home," the Congress MP from Wayanad said. At the foundation stone laying ceremony for the palliative care centre, he said he sees Kerala and Wayanad "as one big extended family" and said that his next plan was to bring his mother Sonia Gandhi -- to visit the state. He also praised the "spirit of togetherness and unity" in Kerala as well as its history, culture and respect for different religions, communities and ideas. "So, I am always learning something new when I come here," he said. Gandhi also launched several social welfare and development projects and inaugurated a set of roads built under PMGSY in Nilambur in this northern district later in the day. During his address, the Congress leader said he considered all the people of Wayanad a part of his family. He also urged everyone to join hands, cutting across politics, for the development of the constituency. The MP said it was a pleasure and honour for him to come and inaugurate such projects that help people who are the most needy. "I think all of us have to work together regardless of our political persuasion and regardless of our party affiliations," Gandhi added.