Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Monday accused the Opposition of trying to derive political mileage from the ongoing flood situation by raising allegations against the government, and asserted that relief and disease-prevention measures were being carried out effectively.
Speaking to reporters, the minister said the Health Department was taking measures to prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases in relief camps and affected areas.
Rejecting allegations that relief camps were facing a shortage of medicines, Muraleedharan said the government had not received any such complaint.
"There are medicines. No shortage of medicine has been reported anywhere in the camps. Medicines have been delivered wherever required and there is enough stock of the medicines currently needed," he said.
The minister said the government had largely cleared pending dues to pharmaceutical companies.
Referring to complaints regarding the availability of medicines under the Karunya scheme, he said the issue was confined to one pharmacy and that the required medicines would reach there by Tuesday.
Responding to criticism over Chief Minister V D Satheesan attending a lunch programme during the flood situation, Muraleedharan said the Opposition was unnecessarily creating controversies.
"Wouldn't anyone have lunch at noon? He went to a place where lunch had been arranged. Saying that having lunch is a big mistake only shows there are no real issues to criticise. Trying to gain political mileage even out of a disaster is utterly unfortunate," he said.
Drawing a comparison with the 2018 floods, Muraleedharan said the Opposition of that time had criticised shortcomings in the government's response inside the Assembly but had never questioned where then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had his meals.
He also defended the chief minister's use of a helicopter, saying they could be used whenever required for official purposes.
"Using a helicopter for essential needs is not wrong at all," he said.
Responding to allegations that the CM had used a helicopter for personal purposes, Muraleedharan said the chief minister's office had clarified that Satheesan visited his critically ill father-in-law while travelling for an official programme.
"Visiting a critically ill father-in-law while on an official trip is basic courtesy. Otherwise, you would have criticised him for not even going to see him," the minister said.
Muraleedharan reiterated that the government's focus remained on disaster management, public health and relief operations, and appealed to political parties not to exploit the situation for political gains.
