War of Words Over Health Sector in Kerala Assembly, LDF Stages Walkout

The Kerala Assembly on Monday witnessed a heated exchange between the ruling UDF and the opposition LDF over the functioning of the health department amid concerns over the spread of communicable diseases, with the latter staging a walkout after its demand for an adjournment motion was rejected.

The adjournment motion notice was moved by CPI(M) MLA and former minister P A Mohammed Riyas, who alleged that the state's acclaimed "Kerala model" in the health sector was showing signs of deterioration under the Congress-led government.

"Thirty-five days may not be enough to assess a government fully, but it is sufficient to understand the direction in which the administration is moving," Riyas said while initiating the discussion.

Taking a dig at Health Minister K Muraleedharan over remarks he had made in the past against then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Riyas said the opposition did not believe communicable diseases emerged because a particular party or front was in power.

"That is not our view, though it may have been the present health minister's view in the past," he said.

Riyas said diseases such as Nipah, West Nile fever, amoebic meningoencephalitis, monkey fever and so on had been reported in the state and accused the government of not maintaining coordination with the Health Department to tackle the situation.

Referring to the minister's observation that Ebola had not been reported in Kerala, Riyas remarked that he feared health department officials might soon announce its presence in the state as well.

Riyas also criticised the government over the ongoing transfer and posting exercise in the health department, alleging that it was adversely affecting the functioning of the sector.

The opposition member alleged that four districts were functioning without District Medical Officers and said Kozhikode, where the Nipah case was reported, was facing a severe shortage of senior health officials.

He further claimed that medicines required for Nipah treatment reached the state only days after the disease was reported and only after the opposition raised protests over the issue.

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan rejected the government's allegation that the previous LDF administration had failed to undertake adequate pre-monsoon cleaning and preparedness measures.

He said all necessary preventive steps had been taken except during March and April months when the Model Code of Conduct was in force.

Vijayan alleged that the functioning of the health department had gone off track and that grassroots-level disease prevention activities had virtually come to a standstill.

"The health department has completely failed," he charged, alleging that large-scale transfers were affecting the morale of health workers and disrupting public health services.

Replying to the charges, Health Minister K Muraleedharan strongly rejected the opposition's allegations and said the government was primarily dealing with the consequences of "five years of wrong decisions and ten years of reels".

He also claimed that no preventive activities had been undertaken since January under the previous dispensation and said officials unwilling to cooperate with the new government had been shifted from key positions.

Maintaining that there was no situation warranting panic over the spread of communicable diseases and no need for an adjournment motion, the minister urged the House to reject the notice.

Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan subsequently denied permission for the adjournment motion, following which LDF members staged a walkout in protest.