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Amid mounting political heat over alleged illegal kidney transplants in Tamil Nadu, Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Friday, July 25, dismissed claims made by Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) that organs were stolen. The Minister said that the incident was not theft but an irregularity in the organ donation process.
Addressing the media in Chennai, Subramanian said, “It is wrong to term this as theft. There are irregularities in how the organ donation process was conducted, but it is not theft. Such irregularities were also reported in 2019, when EPS was the Chief Minister."
The controversy erupted after videos and testimonies surfaced online where several workers from Pallipalayam’s dyeing and textile mills in Namakkal district said they had been lured into selling their kidneys for sums ranging from Rs 5 lakh to 10 lakh but ended up receiving lesser amounts.
Many donor documents that claimed relations between donor and recipient were allegedly manipulated to bypass legal restrictions.
Following the allegations, the government constituted an inquiry committee headed by S Vineeth, Project Director of the Tamil Nadu Health System Reform Programme. The panel has been given two weeks to file a detailed report.
Based on its preliminary findings, which confirmed discrepancies in the process, the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services suspended the kidney transplant licences of two private hospitals, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College and Hospital in Perambalur and Cethar Hospital in Trichy.
The suspensions were made under Section 16(2) of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act. One of the hospitals, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan, is owned by A Srinivasan, father of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLA Kathiravan.
“We have formed a probe committee. A preliminary report found irregularities, so we have suspended the licences. We will take further departmental or criminal action once the final report is filed,” Subramanian said.
Opposition leaders have launched a strong attack on the DMK government, accusing it of shielding those involved.
EPS claimed that the government’s decision to suspend licences itself was proof of wrongdoing. He also alleged that the hospitals under suspension were linked to ruling party functionaries.
“One of the hospitals involved has links to a DMK functionary. This shows how poorly the DMK is regulating the healthcare system. We brought 11 new medical colleges, but under the DMK, people are coming back from hospitals without their organs," he said.
“If you elect such people, they will only take away organs from your body,” he added.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader K Annamalai demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged kidney racket. He said the main broker, M Anandhan, allegedly a DMK functionary, is still absconding. He is suspected of recruiting donors and arranging illegal transplants.
“It is highly unlikely that Anandhan acted alone. Chief Minister MK Stalin must act without delay. A SIT must investigate and take strict action against everyone involved, including brokers, hospitals, and officials,” Annamalai said in a social media post.
The case has now widened into a larger organ racket investigation around Perambalur, Trichy, and Erode. A Special Investigation Team is inquiring into the role of brokers, hospital managements, and government officials who may have failed to verify donor documents.
In Erode, Abhirami Kidney Care Centre has been stopped from performing surgeries and restricted to providing dialysis services only, as the probe continues.