It has not been a favourable week for the Health Department in Kerala. Even before the row over a doctor’s revelation about the lack of surgery equipment at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College (TMC) ended, another catastrophe unfolded in another state-run hospital. A part of an old building at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital collapsed on July 3, killing a woman.
The building was mostly unused, but it contained bathrooms used by people in ward 14, in one of which was trapped 52-year-old Bindu, whose body was later discovered under the rubble. Three others, including an 11-year-old child, were injured when the structure fell to pieces.
The building had been deemed unsafe for years and yet patients were forced to use it because of lack of facilities. After the collapse, the bulldozer could not reach the spot on time to rescue Bindu.
Ministers of the ruling Left Democratic Front, Veena George and VN Vasavan, reached the place but did not immediately seem to know about the dead woman. They shared news about the injured persons while the search was still going on. It was when Bindu was reported missing by her daughter – who was admitted at the hospital – that the rescue team looked deeper and found the woman.
The accident occurred on a day that Dr Haris Chirakkal, the doctor who made the revelation about the lack of surgery equipment, told the media that the surgery that had been delayed by the unavailability was finally performed. He had also alleged that often patients were asked to buy the equipment needed for surgeries.
After Dr Haris shared a public post about the issue, all the bureaucratic red tape appeared to have melted away. New equipment was immediately flown in from Hyderabad – something that the doctor had been asking for months. He had tried raising the issue several times with his superiors, including superintendents and the Health Ministry, before making the issue public as a last resort, Dr Haris said. He knew when he wrote the post on social media that it was “professional suicide”, he said later, adding that he was ready to accept any consequences – any punishment – for his action.
The post – now withdrawn – stirred up a hornet’s nest. Reactions came from the ruling party and the opposition, while doctors from across the state voiced their support. The Kerala Government Medical Colleges (KGMCTA) included the doctor’s cause in their July 1 protest demanding salary arrears and pay revision.
“The unwanted delays in the administrative system is a reality and Dr Haris’ post has been an eye-opener for many. There is a need to fast track the system. Action against the doctor will not solve the problem, and we will strongly protest any such move,” Dr Rosenara Beegum, the state president of the KGMCTA, told TNM.
There has so far been no such move against the doctor. He had, in his posts and responses to the media, pointed out that his rant was not against the state government or the Health Department but against the bureaucracy that delayed timely treatment to common people.
Political reactions
When it was raised before her, Health Minister Veena George said that such an issue had not come to her notice and formed an enquiry committee to submit a report. Later, she released statistics concerning the surgeries performed in the Urology department at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College: equipment worth Rs 67 lakh were bought for the department in 2024-2025, 2,898 surgeries were performed in Urology last year and 1,327 more up to May this year, and 20 kidney transplants were done last year and seven more up to June. Why did such a complaint rise then, she asked, and added that there will be further investigation.
The opposition, United Democratic Front, also set up a commission led by Congress leader and doctor SS Lal to probe the issues faced by the Health Department. Opposition leader VD Satheesan blamed the LDF government for the administrative failure.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that while Dr Haris is known for his dedication, his post was used to paint “India’s most well-run health service in a bad light”.
A day after he withdrew his social media post, Dr Haris wrote that he had not said anything incorrect. Life had changed altogether when he took up the post of the Head of Urology Department at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, he said. He made it clear that he did not want his post to affect the reputation of the medical college that lakhs of common people depended on for their medical needs.
“After becoming the head of the department, I changed a lot of my habits: became submissive before many people, avoided personal events, stopped going for long trips or conferences. That is because I want to make sure that no person suffers because of my absence or neglect.
The common person depends on the Medical College. If I can’t be just in my service, what is the purpose of my life?” Dr Haris wrote emotionally in a Facebook post.
The doctor said that his revelations elicited a lot of reactions but nobody – neither the public nor politicians – had opposed what he said.
“Even now we have deficient equipment, I have said this to the enquiry committee and submitted proof of everything I have stated. We need permanent solutions. Even if I am not working there anymore, the problems have to be resolved. If, on account of my post, the Health Department is painted in a bad light, or obstacles are created for the treatment of patients, or protests are observed, then the purpose is lost. What we need to do instead is to stop the red tape.”
Administrative reforms needed
Senior doctor and public health activist B Ekbal came to the support of Dr Haris, saying that while the treatment facilities at government medical colleges have been expanded and modernised, the administrative process to make these work efficiently has not been updated. He listed a number of reforms that could fix the issue, including updating purchase rules for medicines and equipment, giving more financial power to institutional heads, bringing in urgent hospital administrative reforms, and increasing human resources, including doctors and nurses.
Dr Jayasree, who heads the community medicine department at the Pariyaram Medical College, agrees with Dr Haris that the root of the issue lies in the administrative process.
“They follow an old system, which should be reformed to avoid such delays. It may not be deliberate but the system involves a lot of processes, which means nothing can be sanctioned quickly. It must have been put in place to prevent corruption. But what it instead does is affect efficiency and delay procedures. At least the head of an institute must have the power to move things faster,” Dr Jayasree told TNM.
What happened at the Thiruvanthapuram Medical College is not an isolated issue, she pointed out. Only three weeks ago, news surfaced about the reputed Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology postponing surgeries because of a shortage of equipment. The SCTIMST comes under the Union government.
“What is needed is reforms in the system that will speed up the bureaucratic process. For instance, not one individual or department can take an independent decision – it has to move through different departments such as purchase and finance. You cannot lay the blame on an individual or a department here, it is the whole system. Dr Haris took a lot of risk by talking about this,” Dr Jayasree added.