The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged foul play in the Health department and the Health Minister denying permission to voluntary agencies to clean the premises of General Hospital (GH), Thiruvananthapuram, on October 2 as the programme was set to be inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan.
As part of the Swachh Bharat initiative of the Central government, Nehru Yuva Kendra, Aurobindo Cultural Society and Central Bureau of Communication had decided to take up the clean-up of the premises of ward 11 of the GH on Gandhi Jayanti.
In a statement here, the BJP district vice-president S. R. Rajeev said that a letter had been sent to the GH Superintendent on September 20, seeking permission for the cleanliness drive. Letters were also sent to the District Medical Office (DMO) and the Directorate of Health Services the very next day, seeking permission for the initiative. However, till September 27, 5 p.m. the letter seeking permission was not forwarded, the statement alleged.
The party alleged that it was after pursuing the matter relentlessly that the letter seeking permission was sent to the Secretariat on September 27. It said that though the letter as well as the Principal Secretary’s report was given to the Health Minister and separate e-mails were sent to the Minister and her private secretary, permission was not given.
Mr. Rajeev demanded to know if the permission for voluntary agencies to clean the GH premises was deliberately withheld by the department because the programme was to be inaugurated by Mr. Muraleedharan.
Given the situation, the party said it had sought and received permission from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology to clean SCTIMST’s Biomedical Technology wing at Poojappura.
Meanwhile, in response to the call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to people across the country to take part in a cleanliness drive at 10 a.m. on October 1 to mark Gandhi Jayanti and as part of Swachh Bharat mission, Mr. Muraleedharan joined the cleanliness drive at Varkala Sivagiri HSS on Sunday. The cleaning drive was organised by Nehru Yuva Kendra.
