The furore over the State government’s decision to issue a show-cause notice to the Head of the Urology department at Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, seeking an explanation for his open criticism of the systemic issues affecting patient care in medical colleges refused to die down on Friday with the Health Minister hinting at a “serious investigation” into an alleged “theft” or “disappearance” of an equipment in the Urology department.
Her statement was followed by widespread speculation that the government was viciously hounding Haris Chirakkal, the Head of Urology, for daring to speak the truth about the sad state of affairs in the medical colleges.
Health Minister Veena George, while talking to mediapersons here, said that the show-cause notice issued to Dr. Chirakkal was just a routine matter of procedure and not intended to be a vengeful action specifically against him.
Reason for memo
The memo was issued as a report of the experts’ committee constituted by the government to look into the systemic failures in medical colleges raised by Dr. Chirakkal had clearly pointed out that the doctor had violated the Government Servants’ Rules of Conduct 1960 in airing his grievances in the social media, she said.
