Statewide protests rock Kerala over Kottayam Hospital tragedy

The death of a woman following the collapse of a building at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam on Thursday sparked violent protests across Kerala on Friday.

Various organisations held protest marches to Kottayam Medical College, the health minister’s ancestral home in Pathanamthitta, and her official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, demanding Health Minister Veena George’s resignation.

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Youth Congress workers staged a protest rally at Kottayam Medical College Hospital, raising slogans demanding Veena George’s ouster. Police used water cannons to disperse protesters who attempted to breach the barricades.

In Pathanamthitta, demonstrators marched to the minister’s ancestral home carrying a symbolic coffin, claiming it represented the deteriorating condition of Kerala’s healthcare system. Tension escalated when police tried to block the demonstration and resorted to water cannons.

BJP workers marched to Health Minister Veena George’s official residence in Thiruvananthapuram, accusing her of mishandling the health department and demanding her resignation. Police again used water cannons to disperse the crowd.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said government hospitals in Kerala are in a “pathetic condition” and urged the chief minister to sack Veena George if she refuses to step down. Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, said the state’s healthcare system is on “ventilator support.”

BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar criticized the LDF government, calling its claim of having the country’s “No. 1 healthcare” system an “inflated balloon.”