Medical equipment shortage claim by doctor kicks off political storm in Kerala

A recent revelation by a senior government doctor about shortage of surgical equipment in a state-run medical college here has kicked off a political storm, with the ruling LDF accusing him of not highlighting the issue properly, while the Congress-led UDF backed him.

However, difference in opinion over the issue was seen within the LDF camp as CPI(M)-ally CPI's state secretary Binoy Viswom said the issues raised by Dr Haris Chirakkal had no wrong intentions behind it.

''He raised the issue with the good intention that things should run efficiently,'' Viswom said.

On the other hand, his party colleague and state Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil said there were various means to highlight the issue, but the steps taken by the doctor were regrettable as it armed the Congress-led UDF opposition to attack the Left government.

Similar views were expressed by CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan and state Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian.

Govindan said that issues should be highlighted properly and if they are not, then one will have to face criticism over it.

He made the statement while defending Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's remarks a day ago that the revelations by the doctor, when highlighted in the wrong way, could unintentionally misrepresent the larger picture.

Cherian said what Dr Chirakkal did was not in conformity with the position he holds.

The Congress-led UDF came to the defence of the doctor, saying that he should not be threatened or intimidated for speaking the truth.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said there was a tone of intimidation in the remarks by Vijayan and Govindan in order to prevent others from speaking out.

He said that the equipment whose shortage was highlighted by the doctor, were immediately provided after Chirakkal spoke out about it.

''That shows that what he said was true,'' the opposition leader claimed.

Satheesan claimed that the shortage of equipment was not just in the government medical college here, but in other similar state-run institutions across the state.

He also alleged that the health sector in the state was on a ''ventilator'' as the Health department was only carrying out PR activity and nothing else.

Earlier in the day, Dr Chirakkal said the equipment issues were resolved quickly only after he highlighted them publicly and questioned whether creating a controversy was the only way to resolve such matters.

The doctor, in a Facebook post, had recently said that the shortage of essential medical equipment had led to the postponement of surgeries and had alleged that repeated assurances from authorities had failed to resolve the issue, leaving patients in severe pain waiting for timely treatment.

On Wednesday, while speaking to reporters here, he said that a file related to one of the equipment was pending at the Collectorate for around two months, but was quickly processed after his FB post.

Another equipment was delivered at the hospital amidst the ongoing enquiry in connection with his revelations, he added.

''How were these resolved so quickly when I created an issue over it? How did these things move so fast after being delayed for months? So, things will be resolved only if an issue is created?'' he asked.

At the same time, he agreed with what CM Vijayan said a day ago that Chirakkal ''is a sincere government employee, free of corruption and deeply committed to his duty. ''Despite this, he has now inadvertently become the reason for misrepresenting what is arguably the best healthcare system in India. It is unclear whether this was his intention. Still, this incident should serve as a lesson for all of us,'' the CM had said.

The doctor conceded that what he had said ''would cause some damage to the health sector.'' He said his intention was to ensure the shortage of equipment is resolved and he neither wanted the health department nor the hospitals under it to be blamed nor did he want protests against them.

''Such things (protests) would lead to what I said being misunderstood. What I want is that red-tapism and bureaucratic delays be avoided,'' he said.

Dr Chirakkal further said despite the CM's remarks, he has a lot of respect for Vijayan.

The doctor also said that he had expected some opposition to what he had said, but everyone, irrespective of party leanings, told him that what he said was correct.

Meanwhile, an editorial in the CPI(M) mouthpiece, Deshabhimani, said what the doctor said had caused a lot of misunderstanding, but the health department intervened quickly and resolved the issue.

A committee has been appointed to investigate the cause of the situation and to recommend steps to prevent it from happening in the future, it said.

It alleged that the opposition was trying to gain political mileage out of the issue by spreading the news that the public health sector in the state was having problems.

The editorial said that pointing out mistakes and trying to correct them was fine, but it was different from trying to harm the government in the name of some shortcomings.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)