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The Hindu
5 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Congress, BJP aid corporate hospitals by vilifying Kerala's public health sector: CPI(M)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat has accused the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) of launching a vilification campaign against Kerala's robust public health system to aid the corporate medical-care sector. CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a news conference here on Friday that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had sought to politicise the tragic building collapse at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kottayam, to paint a dismal picture of State-funded hospitals to help corporate hospitals corral patients. He said the building collapse occurred when the hospital authorities were moving patients to the newly constructed block. Mr. Govindan said global capital had 'gobbled up' most legacy hospitals in the private sector, which had sacrificed medical ethics at the altar of profit-making. He said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had sought to protect the working class from predatory medical practices by adding more super-specialty units, including liver and kidney transplant departments, to State-run hospitals. Affordable care He said the Government Medical College Hospitals had successfully conducted organ transplants at minimal rates. The service was provided at no cost to economically disadvantaged individuals. 'In contrast, private corporate hospitals charged not less than ₹40 lakh for the life-saving procedures,' he said. Mr. Govindan said that an almost 50% increase in patient footfall at State-run hospitals had deprived the private sector of business. The Congress and the BJP had come to the aid of the corporate medical industry by seeking to demonise public health care. Mr. Govindan said the private sector was appalled that the LDF had opened outpatient centres at primary health-care centres and created 2,430 new facilities, adding to the existing clinical services to make health care easily accessible and affordable for the public. The private sector had now found a partner in the Congress and the BJP, who were out to malign State-subsidised health care. 'UDF cut allocation' Mr. Govindan said between 2011 and 2016, the Congress government had systematically slashed public health sector allocation from ₹139 crore to ₹116 crore. 'The UDF had planned to privatise State-funded hospitals,' he added. In contrast, since 2021, the second LDF government had increased public health spending to ₹1,600 crore. Kerala's health sector had won at least 21 national and international recognitions. Mr. Govindan said the BJP government at the Centre punished Kerala for its public health achievements by reducing allocations as part of the Centre's 'vengeful politics.' The LDF balanced the books by raising ₹80,000 crore from the global market to modernise State-funded hospitals, which now offered state-of-the-art treatment on a par with developed nations. It also increased the Gross State Domestic Product to catalyse welfare and development, given the Centre's attempt to financially strangulate Kerala.
The Hindu
22-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Minister instructs officials to conduct joint inspection of school buildings in current rainy season
Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageshwara Rao, who is the in-charge Minister of the erstwhile Karimnagar district, asked officials to immediately identify dilapidated school buildings and shift the students to nearby buildings. Mr. Rao presided over a review meeting with the officials of Karimnagar, Jagtial, Peddapalli and Rajanna Sircilla districts at the Collectorate in Karimnagar on Sunday. He reviewed the functioning of School Education, Agriculture and Housing departments. Minister for IT and Industries D. Sridhar Babu, Minister for Transport and Backward Classes Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar, among others attended the meeting. Metpally MLA K. Sanjay apprised the district in-charge Minister of the dilapidated condition of the State-run high school building in Metpally and sought speedy completion of the government junior college building on the same premises to shift them into the new building. The Minister instructed the officials of the School Education, Panchayat Raj and Roads & Buildings departments to jointly inspect the condition of government school buildings to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of students in the current rainy season. He asked Collectors to focus on students' enrolment drive in government schools, achieve the stipulated targets of oil palm cultivation and effective implementation of the Indiramma Illu, the flagship housing of the State government, in a transparent manner. Mr. Sridhar Babu said the State government accorded top priority to education, health and agriculture sectors. He called upon the officials to strive to ensure the benefits of the welfare schemes, including Indiramma housing, reach all the deserving people. He wanted the officials to encourage farmers to grow suitable alternative crops, including vegetables, so as to double their income. He directed the officials to take stringent action against those selling spurious seed. Mr. Prabhakar asked the officials to focus on improving students' enrolment and enhancing learning outcomes in government schools. Highlighting the initiatives of the Congress government such as recruiting teachers and conducting training programmes for teachers of State-run schools, he emphasised the need for increased community engagement in Badi Bata enrolment campaign to make all stakeholders active partners in the endeavour. He added that the government has started disbursing ₹9,000 crore to farmers under the Rythu Bharosa, the investment support scheme, across the State within nine days in a mission mode.
The Hindu
22-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Teachers wait for jobs and justice
Payel Dutta, 35, and Smritikana Roy, 33, sit on the footpath outside Bikash Bhawan in Kolkata's Salt Lake area on a sweltering afternoon. They are writing to the President of India Droupadi Murmu, asking for a restoration of their jobs as teachers. Either that, or they seek permission for 'voluntary euthanasia'. Bikash Bhawan is the headquarters of West Bengal's State Education Department, and Dutta and Roy teach mathematics and English, respectively. Two months ago, the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of 25,752 teachers and non-teaching staff in State-run schools. The appointments had been made in 2016 by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), the body that holds the entrance examination for school jobs. Since then, Bikash Bhawan has become the site of protests of those whose appointments stand cancelled. Women and men, many in their 30s and 40s, assemble outside the blue and white government building. Wiping her tears, Dutta, who teaches in Murshidabad Indrani Hasna Mayani High School, says, 'When I took the exam in 2016, I was unmarried and did not have a child; I had free time to prepare. Now, I have in-laws also to care for. I will have to compete with younger people to get re-appointed at a job which I worked hard to get.' Roy, who teaches at Baharampur Mahakali Pathshala, says growing up she had always looked at teaching as a noble profession, but now she struggles. 'We were beaten up, dragged on the roads, and we have even shed blood on the streets. We have lost all self-respect. Our students see us sitting on the roads, getting baton-charged by the police. Will they ever respect us like before?' Roy says. She too is a mother now and can't imagine going through the recruitment process all over again. Most of those recruited in 2016 had worked for about five years before their dismissal earlier this year. A series of events The West Bengal school recruitment scam came to light in July 2022, when former State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee and his aide Arpita Mukherjee were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The Central investigating agency recovered cash, jewellery and immovable property worth ₹103.10 crore linked to the Minister and his aide. So far, the investigation has resulted in scores of arrests that include officials of the State Education Department, politicians associated with the ruling Trinamool Congress, and touts. The touts would allegedly offer jobs in State-run schools in return for money that was then paid 'upwards'. The SC has stipulated that 'selectees with purported evidence and material indicating wrongdoing' were to relinquish their jobs immediately. After the April 3 Supreme Court judgment annulling all the appointments, protests began. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met those who had lost jobs on April 7. 'We have 'Plan A, B, C, D, and E' ready. Did you receive any notice terminating your job? You go and work.... Who has stopped you? Continue with your work,' she assured the teachers. The first incident of violence occurred on April 9, when protesters stormed the office of the District Inspector (DI) of schools in Kasba in south Kolkata and a scuffle broke out. In videos circulated after, a police officer was seen kicking a protesting teacher, which prompted outrage. On April 17, the Supreme Court allowed the teachers 'who claim that they were validly selected and have committed no wrongdoing' to continue in the State's government and aided schools. They are to be retained until fresh recruitment takes place in December 2025. The Court also directed the State Government to file an affidavit before May 30 enclosing the advertisement and a schedule of the entire recruitment process. The first two weeks of May witnessed widespread protests by those who had lost jobs, mostly outside Bikash Bhawan. By way of a shorthand, they called themselves the 'untainted'. On May 15, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Bikash Bhawan, saying they would not allow government employees to leave the office unless the State government found a way out. Tensions ran high as dusk descended, and the employees working in several departments grew desperate to leave. A large contingent of police arrived to clear the protesters from around the gates of the government institution. The police resorted to baton charge, leaving scores of protesters injured. This was covered extensively on live television news. The next day, the West Bengal police justified its actions saying they were getting distress calls from employees who wanted to return home. 'We used minimal force. We understand they have lost their jobs, but they broke barricades, used force to get inside Bikash Bhawan, and did not allow over 500 employees to leave the premises,' said Supratim Sarkar, Additional Director General, South Bengal, addressing the media. Chinmoy Mondal, a representative of Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, a group formed for the protest, says everyone knows why 'deserving teachers' are on the streets and outside Bikash Bhawan. 'They call this minimal force? It left us with fractures, head and eye injuries, and blood loss,' Mondal said. On May 27, the CM said that her government would start a fresh recruitment process for teachers as per the Supreme Court order. Simultaneously, the government would pursue a review petition in the SC seeking the reinstatement of all the teachers and non-teaching staff who lost their jobs. 'The process of the review petition and fresh appointments will continue simultaneously,' she said at the State Secretariat, bringing the options from 'A, B, C, D and E' down to two. On May 31, West Bengal brought out a notification for appointment for 44,203 vacancies as teachers. The government allowed age relaxations so that the teachers whose jobs have been annulled can get a shot at recruitment. Physical hurt and mental trauma By the first week of June, the protesters were asked to shift to a different venue. The most accessible spot for all was the metro station closest to Bikash Bhawan. On a sweltering June afternoon, hundreds of young women and men poured out of the Karunamoyee metro station, greeting each other like old friends. 'How are you? How's your eye? You look tired,' a protester asks 33-year-old Rajat Haldar, a physics teacher in Subhash Nagar High School in South 24 Parganas. Since May 15, Haldar has had a deep scar over his left eyebrow. He claims it is from when he was beaten by the police. 'It is difficult for me to stay in the sun for too long now. My head starts throbbing,' he tells a well-wishing fellow protester. He says the memories of the violent clash of May 15 are traumatic to recall. 'All I remember was that around 9.30 that night, after verbal altercations started between protestors and police outside Bikash Bhawan, a few of my fellow teachers and I were peacefully seated along one of the boundary walls. Two police personnel came and demanded to know what we were doing. Moments later, without any warning, two constables charged at us with batons and struck my head,' he says. Suvojit Das, in his mid 30s, one of the leading voices of the Jogyo Shikkhok Shikkhika Adhikar Mancha (JSSAM), an organisation of 'aggrieved teachers', frequently visits the protest site at Karunamoyee. 'We are dying a slow death every day. It is one thing to be executed at a moment's notice, and it is another thing to be told when you will be executed and to have to wait in misery till that day arrives,' says Das, as fellow teachers gather around him. 'For us, December 31, our last working day stipulated by the Supreme Court, is like that. We wake up worrying about December 31,' says the mathematics teacher. Protesting teachers say that Praveen Karmakar, a teacher from Amui Para Refugee School in Hooghly, died during the course of the protests. He had an underlying illness that was triggered by 'severe mental stress', they say. In a hunger protest that about 20 teachers participated in, two of who are visually impaired, several have been hospitalised. Sidelined non-teaching staff Among the employees of State-run schools who have lost their jobs, 2,483 were Group C staff and 4,550 Group D staff serving in non-teaching capacities. They had to leave from the day following the SC order. So far there has been no recruitment notification for Group C and D employees. Amit Mondal, one of the leaders of the Group C and D staff member group, points out that clerical staff is the backbone of schools. Non-teaching staff maintains classrooms, performs various administrative jobs, and ensures the running of schemes like Kanyashree Prakalpa, which incentivises girls to stay in school until Class 12. 'I bring my son, who is just one-and-a-half years old here every day. I have no choice. If I don't earn, he won't get his meals. Thankfully, my husband has been a pillar of support in the struggle,' says Mala Hansda, a Group D school employee from Purulia. She tries to soothe her child, who is crying under the scorching sun. The CM on April 26 announced ₹25,000 and ₹20,000 honorariums to Group C and D staff until the Supreme Court announces a decision on the State's review petition. But the allowance, which was approved by the State Cabinet, was challenged before the Calcutta High Court by some job aspirants who claim they were not appointed because of 'irregularities'. Now, the monthly allowance stays until September 26, as per a court order. The recruitment 'scam' Firdous Shamim, an advocate in the Calcutta High Court, has represented various candidates who alleged irregularities in the recruitment process. 'This scam is an example of institutionalised corruption. There was manipulation of marks and rank jumping; candidates who did not appear in the examination were given appointments,' the lawyer says. Central investigation agencies found evidence of tampering of the optical mark reader (OMR) sheets, where they found that marks of many candidates had been forged. The WBSSC claims that OMR sheets of the 2016 examination have been destroyed and cannot be retrieved. Shadab Shams and Aftab Ansari are married. Both have lost their jobs after the Supreme Court order. Shadab teaches Urdu in a school in Kankinara, and Aftab is a geography teacher in a Hindi-medium school in Titagarh. The couple occasionally brings their daughter to protests as there is no one to take care of her at home. 'What has happened to us is a grave injustice. The government is responsible for the corruption, and now we are on the brink of a crisis. What did we do to deserve this?' Shams says. Edited by Sunalini Mathew
The Hindu
21-06-2025
- The Hindu
Man held for misbehaving with woman on moving bus
A 29-year-old man was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a woman on board a State-run bus in Thrissur, the police said on Saturday. The accused Savad, a native of Vadakara in neighbouring Kozhikode, was taken into custody from Tamil Nadu on Friday and his arrest was recorded, the East Police here said. Savad was arrested and jailed in a similar case two years ago for allegedly flashing and misbehaving with a woman passenger on board a moving bus in Ernakulam district. The fresh incident happened on June 14 on board a Malappuram-bound Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus. The police said, as per the woman's complaint, the accused had touched her with sexual intension and behaved in an inappropriate manner. As she protested, Savad alighted the bus midway and escaped. The victim later lodged a complaint with the East police, which launched a man-hunt to trace him. The arrest was recorded under various sections of the BNS, including Section 75 (sexual harassment), police added. In the earlier incident, Savad had been accorded a reception by the All Kerala Men's Association when he was released on bail, which had invited widespread criticism two years ago.
The Hindu
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Nainar Nagenthran condemns DMK MLA for belittling women beneficiaries of ‘zero ticket' bus travel scheme
BJP Tamil Nadu president Nainar Nagenthran on Wednesday condemned DMK MLA from Andipatti, A. Maharajan, for his remarks belittling women who travel free of cost in State-run buses under the Vidiyal Payanam or zero cost ticket scheme.. In a post on X, Mr. Nagenthran said this was not the first instance of inappropriate comments by DMK leaders. 'On several occasions, DMK members have demeaned beneficiaries of welfare schemes, including women who commute in State-run buses free of cost, by calling them 'free riders'. Such arrogant behaviour and mockery of ordinary people by those in power is unacceptable,' he said. Mr. Nagenthran added, 'Instead of focusing their energy on mocking women beneficiaries, DMK leaders should ensure buses are operated in good condition and that all eligible women are included under the Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam.'
