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The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
LDF govt. more concerned about PR campaigns than attending to Health sector: Shafi Parambil
Shafi Parambil, Congress MP, has alleged that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government is ignoring government medical college hospitals in the State because they are 'addicted to public relations campaigns'. He was opening a protest meeting outside the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, against the various problems affecting the healthcare sector in the State. Mr. Shafi alleged that the government was also helping the 'private hospital lobby' by neglecting medical college hospitals. He claimed that the rights of patients for medical care were being curtailed. Mr. Shafi demanded that the government cut down its expenditure on PR campaigns and use the funds for patients' welfare. Highlighting the recent social media post by C.S. Haris, Head of the Department of Urology at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, about the lack of availability of surgical devices and equipment, Mr. Shafi alleged that even a Left sympathiser like him could not hide his disappointment over the state of affairs at the facility. Meanwhile, members of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers' Association (KGMCTA) organised a protest meeting on National Doctors' Day on Tuesday (July 1), raising various demands. Opening the protest, C.S. Aravind, KGMCTA State secretary, said that the doctors in government medical colleges were disappointed with the current situation and called for urgent reforms in the sector. The doctors raised demands such as the creation of more posts of medical teachers in view of the rising number of patients, a clear definition of their working hours, and a halt to the temporary transfers of doctors, citing inspections by the National Medical Commission and the Kerala University of Health Sciences.
The Hindu
a day ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Govt. hospitals turning into killing centres: Venugopal
Launching a scathing attack on the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, senior Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, MP, has said that government hospitals in the State have turned into ' killing centres' owing to an acute shortage of medicines, surgical equipment, and staff. Speaking at a dharna organised by the Kannur District Congress Committee here, he alleged that the Health sector was crumbling due to the government's apathy and financial mismanagement. 'Government hospitals, the lifeline of the common man, are being systematically demolished to benefit the private lobby,' Mr. Venugopal said. He cited the example of Dr. Harris Hasan, who publicly disclosed delays in surgeries at a government medical college hospital because of a shortage of equipment. 'Many other doctors share his view but fear government reprisal,' he said, accusing the Chief Minister of silencing critics. He attributed the crisis to the government's 'financial mismanagement' and said that it owed nearly ₹1,000 crore to pharmaceutical companies and had racked up arrears across schemes like Karunya. 'Is this the so-called Kerala model?' he asked, accusing the Finance Minister of hiding true figures and slashing the Health budget. Highlighting reports of corruption and malpractice, including the PPE kit scam during COVID-19, Mr. Venugopal said that even life-saving drugs were unavailable. Doctors are forced to ask patients to buy basic tools for treatment, he added. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph echoed Mr. Venugopal's views, saying that the Health Minister, who blamed the system without fixing it, had no right to stay in office. He said the Health Minister had initially rejected Dr. Hasan's claims, but later backtracked due to public outrage. 'Doctors are forced to protest even on Doctor's Day. That's how bad things have become,' he said, announcing a UDF-appointed Commission to study the crisis and hold a medical conclave.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
BJP core committee lays out road plan for local body polls
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) core committee, which met here on Monday, reportedly saw a better chance of the party emerging as a reliable third alternative to the Left Democratic Front- United Democratic Front 'revolving door' politics in the 2025 local body polls and the 2026 Assembly elections. A BJP insider said the Congress' 'lacklustre' showing in the Nilambur Assembly byelection had buoyed the party's hopes for a better showing in the elections that lay ahead. He said the core committee's reading was that the Congress had failed to cash in on the 'anti-incumbency' anger against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government fully. Later, former BJP State president K. Surendran told a press conference that the Congress had merely held on to a traditional stronghold wrested from it by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) using an Independent candidate. He said the voting pattern in Nilambur revealed the Opposition United Democratic Front's (UDF) inherent electoral weaknesses, which the BJP would exploit to its full advantage. Mr. Surendran said the BJP was initially not keen on contesting the Nilambur bypoll at the fag end of the second Pinarayi Vijayan government. 'The bypoll was of scarce political or electoral consequence. Still, the BJP kept its options open,' he said. Mr. Surendran said the core committee meeting had finalised the contours of a roadmap for emerging as a potent electoral force in the local body elections. He stated that the BJP was open to tactical alliances without compromising its core ideology or national agenda. BJP State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and leaders P.K. Krishnadas, V. Muraleedharan, Sobha Surendran, and M.T. Ramesh were among those present.
The Hindu
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Government to inform Raj Bhavan about the use of non-national symbols at State functions
On Wednesday, the Kerala Cabinet reportedly considered notifying Raj Bhavan that Constitutional protocol forbids political and religious iconography at State functions. The administration's move comes against the backdrop of Raj Bhavan repeatedly using what the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government described as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's (RSS) Hindu nationalist depiction of ''Mother India'' at functions attended by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Law Minister P. Rajeeve told reporters that the government would inform Raj Bhavan that protocol insisted that only Constitutional symbols, such as the national anthem and national flag, be used at State functions, especially those attended by the Governor, who is the de jure head of the provincial government. 'The government's stance is clear. Using non-Constitutional and non-national symbols with political and religious overtones at secular State functions insults the revered national emblems and the Constitution. The Governor is the Constitutional head of State,' he said. Mr. Rajeeve demurred when asked whether Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, head of the Council of Ministers, would write to the Governor about the matter. 'What transpires between the Cabinet and the Governor cannot be discussed in the public domain,' Mr Rajeev replied. Mr. Arlerkar appeared to throw down the gauntlet by overruling the government's objections to using Bharat Mata pictures at his official functions. He stood firm that Bharat Mata was on a par with other national emblems and a long-revered symbol of national unity. The use of Bharat Mata's image prompted Agriculture Minister P. Prasad and General Education Minister V. Sivankutty to leave official events hosted by Raj Bhavan. The issue had spilt onto the streets with the SFI and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad holding marches for and against using the picture.
The Hindu
23-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
One idea, many images
Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's obstinate use of contentious political iconography has shattered the veneer of harmony with the State government that marked his early months in office. Over the last fortnight, two Kerala Ministers have protested and boycotted official events held at the Raj Bhavan, taking strong exception to a garlanded portrait of Bharat Mata — Mother India — in front of a lion and holding a saffron flag against what appears to be a map of Akhand Bharat (undivided India). Leaders of the ruling Left Democratic Front decried the imagery, condemning it as a ploy to inject a Hindu nationalist agenda into the constitutional office of the Governor. Mr. Arlekar nonchalantly ascribed the idea to the spirit of nationalism and patriotism. The rift has since spilled over into the streets, leading to confrontations between workers of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party across the State. The Mother India motif traces its origins to the late 19th century work, Anandamath, by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, which personified the country as an oppressed Hindu goddess with a glorious past aspiring to regain her enormous might. It featured 'Vande Mataram', which became hugely popular and accepted as India's national song. With the nationalist movement taking shape, the image found countless iterations across forms of cultural and political expression. In the early 20th century, artist Abanindranath Tagore depicted Bharat Mata as a four-armed goddess holding a piece of white cloth, sheaves of paddy, a book and a string of beads. While Anandamath came under criticism for its perceived communal undertones, with the image being appropriated by Hindu religious nationalists, Abanindranath's image was seen as a 'humanisation' of the divine mother. If painter Amrita Shergill poignantly pictured Mother India as a pining mother staring into an uncertain future, political and cultural portrayals of Mother India relied on the metaphor of a woman who was a divine, benevolent custodian of customs and traditions, with the imagery drawing heavily from Hindu iconography. Her flag changed between the tricolour and saffron, depending on who portrayed the image. Calendar art pinned up many iterations in drawing rooms. While films such as Mother India cemented the stereotype, Satyajit Ray's Devi called out the deification of women as a patriarchal tool of subjugation. But religious nationalists continued to weaponise the symbolism, imaginatively blending the visual of a decked-up Hindu goddess with a united Hindu Rashtra. Secularists such as M.F. Husain, too, were drawn to the idea of the nation as a woman and it got deeply etched in the collective psyche of the people. Given the lack of a standard depiction of the metaphor of Mother India, the present controversy was avoidable. Governors would do well to desist from employing a Hindu majoritarian version of a multilayered iconic image for political expediency.
