Thiruvananthapuram, June 22 — A routine Assembly debate on the spread of infectious diseases in Kerala on Monday escalated into a sharp political confrontation between CPI(M) MLA Mohammed Riyas and Health Minister K. Muraleedharan, as the two traded accusations over the government’s handling of recent disease concerns. Riyas moved a notice seeking leave for an adjournment motion to discuss the situation, but the Speaker rejected it, saying the matter did not warrant an emergency discussion.
Riyas, who is the son-in-law of Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, accused the Health Department of poor coordination and said the state’s much-publicised health model was facing a setback. He alleged that four districts were operating without District Medical Officers and raised concerns about the absence of adequate medical leadership in Kozhikode, which had earlier reported Nipah cases. “Couldn’t the government provide even one medical officer for Kozhikode?” he asked, blaming the department’s focus on transfers and postings instead of bolstering disease prevention.
The MLA also claimed that medicines for Nipah reached Kerala only five days after the disease was reported and that supplies arrived only after Opposition protests. In a pointed attack, he said an official in the Health Minister’s office — the now-transferred director of health services, he added — had become “a bigger concern than Nipah itself.”
Muraleedharan, son of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, strongly rejected the Opposition’s accusations and accused it of stirring unnecessary alarm. He said the state had acted swiftly: medicines required for Nipah treatment were brought from abroad within 24 hours, only one Nipah case had been reported in Kerala, and no Ebola case had been detected anywhere in India. The minister defended the state’s disease prevention apparatus, citing coordination between departments and joint inspections by health and food safety officials.
Taking a political swipe, Muraleedharan blamed the government’s troubles on the “reels of the last 10 years” and the “Veena playing” of the last five years — a reference to criticisms levelled by the UDF relating to social media activity by ministers and the tenure of former Health Minister Veena George. He assured the House that vacancies in the health sector would be filled soon and urged calm, saying precautionary measures were in place.
The exchange turned the Assembly floor into a battleground where immediate public health concerns intersected with Kerala’s long-standing political rivalries. — IANS
Original Source: https://assamtribune.com/health-and-fitness/kerala-health-issue-dominates-assembly-amid-political-sparring-1613386
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Publish Date: 2026-06-22 16:19:00
