Thiruvananthapuram: Former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the Congress-led government for its Nipah response, wildlife attacks and transfer of DHS.
He questioned the transfer of the Director of Health Services during a public health crisis and noted that the government “lacked coordination” in Nipah control efforts. He also mentioned that he had no intention of “politicizing the issue”, instead saying he was open to expanding all cooperation in efforts to contain the disease.
The Nipah case
Addressing a press conference, the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly said it had been six days since the first Nipah case was confirmed in the state and alleged that the coordination required to prevent the spread of the virus was lacking.
The leftist leader urged the government to focus on disease prevention, sanitary measures, hospital preparedness and availability of medicines.
“The coordination needed to prevent the spread of the Nipah virus is not being done properly. The lack of coordination continues even now,” he said.
Vijayan said Health Minister K Muraleedharan’s response to the criticism was “inappropriate”. “We are not prepared to politicize the issue. We will extend all cooperation in efforts to contain the disease,” he said.
Transfer of DHS
LoP Vijayan then questioned the transfer of the Director of Health Services during the ongoing health emergency.
“At a time when the situation is extremely dire, the government has moved to transfer the Director of Health Services. Replacing the person leading the department at such a critical time is, ordinarily, something that should be avoided,” he said.
Wild animal attacks
During his speech, he also shed light on wild animal attacks in the state. Noting recent incidents where six people had lost their lives within the past three weeks, he criticized the government’s handling of wild animal attacks.
Referring to the death of an Adivasi woman in a wild elephant attack in Suriyanelli, Vijayan alleged that authorities had failed to act despite warnings from local residents about the movement of elephants in the area.
He said the solution to human-wildlife conflict lies in amending wildlife laws, a proposal put forward by the previous LDF government but not supported by the UDF.
Vijayan also alleged that the UDF had promised to increase the compensation for deaths caused by wild animal attacks from Rs 14 lakh to Rs 21 lakh, but had so far “failed” to implement the pledge.
With agency inputs
