Faced with intense civic and political outrage, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan on Sunday flip-flopped on his opposition to the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)’s free ‘pothichoru’ (food parcel) distribution in over 60 government hospitals in Kerala.
On Saturday, Mr. Muraleedharan had said that the government would put an end to the distribution of food packets on hospital premises under the banner of political parties. He said the government would start community kitchens in hospitals. The statement led to a huge uproar, with the DYFI and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] accusing the Minister of attempting to scuttle a humanitarian initiative that has continued without a break since the DYFI launched it in 2017.
By Sunday evening, the Minister’s office issued a clarification saying that the government is not against free food distribution programme at hospitals. “The Minister’s earlier statement was made regarding the Government Medical College in Alappuzha, where some organisations have encroached upon the hospital’s land in the name of food distribution. It need not be seen as a general statement. The government’s wish is that the poor get food,” said the statement.
DYFI national president A.A. Rahim told The Hindu that governments across the world usually attempt to get the maximum number of community organisations involved in health and social security sectors, but the UDF government has unfortunately taken an opposite view, which is not beneficial to anyone.
“The DYFI organises blood donation in all hospitals and has hundreds of ambulances in which patients in critical condition are taken to hospitals. Would the Minister stop these also? Several organisations, including the Indian Union Muslim League’s C.H. Muhammed Koya Foundation, organise initiatives on hospital premises under their banner. Many voluntary organisations have been distributing food packets even before the DYFI initiative, but what makes our model different is the participation of people of all religions and belonging to various political parties, who prepare the food which is consumed by people from all walks of life,” said Mr. Rahim.
A DYFI activist at Mattancherry in Kochi collecting food parcels prepared at a home to be delivered at the Ernakulam Medical College. | Photo Credit: File photo
From 2017
The DYFI’s initiative began in 2017 from Vilappilsala in Thiruvananthapuram where the local unit started distributing food to a charity organisation which rescued people from the streets. The organisation’s district committee later implemented it with the brand name ‘Hridayapoorvam’ at the Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, with an initial batch of 600 packets. The programme has now expanded to over 60 hospitals, with a total of over 40,000 food packets distributed daily.
According to Mr. Rahim, the DYFI district committees prepare distribution charts for the whole year, with each local unit collecting food packets from homes twice or thrice a year. He accused Mr. Muraleedharan of hypocrisy in naming a public-funded hospital after his father K. Karunakaran, while scuttling a free food distribution programme.
No alternatives: Pinarayi
Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said that the UDF government is giving priority to denying food to the needy without finding solutions to the unprecedented mismanagement in the health sector. “This is an exemplary voluntary work being done for patients and caregivers without political considerations. Only those who are inhumane can mix the poison of narrow politics in it. This distribution of packets, which is being carried out by everyone, beyond party politics and caste and religious differences, is being hastily banned before alternative systems are implemented. What benefit does the government intend to gain by doing so?” asked Mr. Vijayan in a Facebook post.
BJP stance
Significantly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K. Surendran also lashed out at the Minister’s stand and said that the government should not view free meal distribution through a political lens. “If all those who received food packets voted for those who gave them, Mr. Muraleedharan would not have been in the Assembly,” he said.
