Kerala issues show cause notice to doctor for flagging surgical equipment shortage

A show-cause notice has been issued to Dr Haris Chirakkal, the head of the urology department at Trivandrum Medical College in Kerala, after he raised concerns on social media about a lack of surgical equipment in the hospital.

His Facebook post, which went viral, triggered widespread debate and drew attention to the state of public healthcare in Kerala.

The Directorate of Medical Education (DME) said Dr Haris had violated the 1960 government service rules by making allegations through social media. A probe by an expert committee followed, which found that a surgery halted due to the alleged unavailability of a surgical probe was, in fact, conducted the next day using an available probe.

The committee also noted that while Dr Haris had submitted two letters, he had not raised the issue formally through meetings or written complaints addressed to the superintendent, principal, or higher authorities.

The report concluded that propagating “false information” and allegedly defaming the government amounted to a gross violation of government service rules.

The move has sparked political backlash. Opposition Leader VD Satheesan slammed the government, calling the action against Dr Haris “very unfortunate.”

“Health Kerala is in ventilator. For the last so many months, there is a scarcity of medicines and surgical equipment in almost all hospitals. The government and health minister are now accusing the doctor. They are even trying to implicate him in a stealing case,” Satheesan said.

He alleged that the government was attempting to silence others who might raise similar concerns.

“Many other doctors are willing to reveal the issues. Through this, the government is trying to shut all other mouths,” he added.

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