Thiruvananthapuram | The UDF government in Kerala has ordered an expert committee to investigate medical equipment purchases made during the previous LDF's 10-year rule, following complaints that expensive equipment remained uninstalled, unused or poorly maintained.
State Health Minister K Muraleedharan has directed the Health Department Principal Secretary to appoint a committee of senior officials and technical experts to conduct the inquiry and submit a detailed report within two weeks.
"The report should clearly identify those responsible and recommend further action," the minister said in a statement here on Monday.
The inquiry will cover all government medical colleges, government hospitals and other institutions under the health department.
It will examine the procurement, installation, commissioning, use, maintenance and present condition of all medical equipment and related devices purchased during the past decade, the statement said.
Muraleedharan said the probe should also cover equipment bought using Plan funds, the Prime Minister Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) and other centrally sponsored schemes, as well as medical equipment supplied by the central government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister said the government had received several complaints over the purchase of costly medical equipment in the last 10 years.
According to the complaints, many expensive devices, including oxygen concentrators supplied by the Centre during the pandemic, autoclave machines, solar power plants and generators, as well as equipment purchased under PMSSY and other centrally sponsored schemes, were either never installed or commissioned.
He said some equipment had also become non-functional because it was not properly maintained.
"Such incidents can lead to financial loss to the government, wastage of public assets and denial of services to the public," Muraleedharan said.
The minister said he had personally found several high-value medical equipment items, including a mobile mortuary, lying unused for a long period during a recent visit to the Government Medical College in Wayanad.
"Reports suggesting similar situations in other government medical colleges, government hospitals and institutions under the health department are the reason for ordering this inquiry," he added.
The purchases being investigated were made during the LDF government's decade in power from 2016 to 2026, when K K Shailaja and Veena George were health ministers.
Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Monday said that the police had received information that some medical stores were illegally distributing narcotic drugs in various forms and warned of strict legal action against those involved.
The minister said inspections would be intensified and no medical store found facilitating the illegal drug trade would be spared.
"There will be no compromise with any establishment that helps the spread of narcotic drugs. Medical stores found guilty will face the maximum punishment provided under the law," Chennithala said.
He said strict action would be taken against those behind the drug trade, irrespective of their influence.
"No matter how influential they are, those involved in the drug trade will face strict action," the home minister said.
Chennithala said the government's anti-drug campaign, Operation Toofan, had been receiving strong public support, including from women and children.
He said the police had found that a small number of medical stores were involved in distributing narcotic drugs in different forms and assured that such establishments would be identified and punished.
The minister was speaking at a memorial meeting for former Chief Minister K Karunakaran organised by the Democratic Social Movement (DSM) at the Press Club Hall here.
During the function, retired High Court judge Justice B Kemal Pasha presented the DSM's Karmashreshtha Award to Chennithala.
