Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday strongly rejected the Opposition’s charge that Kerala’s public healthcare system was in decline. Speaking in the Assembly, he said that the State continued to be a national model in the health sector.
Replying to an adjournment motion moved by the Congress-led UDF seeking a discussion on what it described as an alarming health crisis, Vijayan said the criticism ignored the structural improvements and investments made by the government.
The Chief Minister said Kerala had created extensive healthcare facilities during the Covid-19 pandemic, successfully handling an unprecedented public health emergency. He maintained that major changes had been implemented since the LDF came to power, with initiatives such as the Aardram Mission focusing on upgrading government hospitals, improving patient care, and strengthening primary health services.
Vijayan said isolated incidents were being projected as evidence of systemic failure and cautioned against undermining the credibility of a public health system that had earned global recognition.
He stressed that the government intervened whenever lapses were identified and that corrective measures were part of an ongoing process of reform.
The CM’s remarks came in response to a scathing speech by Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, who accused the government of presiding over a breakdown of healthcare delivery marked by negligence, staff shortages and lack of emergency facilities.
Satheesan cited multiple cases, including medical errors, delayed treatment, and inadequate infrastructure in medical colleges and district hospitals, to argue that the system was “on a ventilator”.
He alleged that inquiry orders issued by the Health Department rarely led to accountability and claimed that several medical colleges, particularly those initiated during the UDF’s tenure, had been neglected.
Satheesan also flagged rising out-of-pocket medical expenses, arguing that ordinary people were being forced into unaffordable private healthcare.
The adjournment motion debate once again exposed the sharp political divide over Kerala’s healthcare narrative, with the Opposition projecting a system in distress and the government defending its record of reform and crisis management.
As healthcare remains a core political and social issue in the State, the clash underscored how competing claims over governance and accountability are likely to intensify in the months ahead, with the assembly polls round the corner.
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