Kerala Assembly Sees Clash Over Disease Outbreaks, Opposition Walks Out

The first session of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly witnessed a heated confrontation on Monday over the rise in communicable diseases, with the opposition accusing the UDF government of failing to contain outbreaks and walking out of the House after its adjournment motion was rejected.

The opposition sought to suspend normal business to discuss the spread of diseases such as Shigella, Nipah and monkeypox, alleging that inadequate pre-monsoon sanitation measures and poor coordination among departments had contributed to the situation.

Raising the issue, opposition MLA Mohammed Riyas claimed Kerala's globally recognised public health model was being weakened under the new government and alleged that the administration had failed to take adequate preventive measures ahead of the monsoon season.

Health Minister K. Muraleedharan rejected the allegations and pointed out factual errors in the opposition's notice, noting that Ebola had not been confirmed anywhere in India. He said the woman from Kottayam who had been placed under observation after travelling through Sudan had not tested positive for the disease.

The minister outlined a series of measures being implemented by the government, including strengthened surveillance, inter-departmental coordination, hospital preparedness, intensified dengue prevention drives and a season-based epidemic calendar. He maintained that there was no need for panic and insisted that the government was transparently sharing disease-related information.

Riyas, however, questioned the government's preparedness and coordination, alleging delays in preventive measures and accusing the administration of sidelining elected representatives during disease-control efforts.

The debate took a political turn when Muraleedharan accused the previous LDF government of focusing on publicity rather than strengthening the health system.

"The health department is now dealing with the consequences of the last five years of reels and veena performances," the minister said.

Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan criticised the minister's remarks and termed his response to the issue "non-serious". He said a government could not afford to falter on public health challenges that had emerged after it assumed office and urged the administration to treat the matter with greater urgency.

Following the Speaker's decision to reject the adjournment motion, opposition members staged a walkout from the House in protest.