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Artistes perform during the inauguration ceremony of the 63rd Kerala State School Arts Festival at Central stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Saturday. (January 4, 2025)
| Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran
The Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) seems to have stoked a controversy by stating that government doctors tasked with providing emergency medical care at the Kerala State School Arts Festival 2025 venues will abstain from their duties.
As many as 10,000 students, accompanied by their parents and teachers, will compete in various events at 25 venues across Thiruvananthapuram over five days for the festival that commences on Saturday (January 4, 2024).
The government had set up emergency medical centres at the venues, each headed by a doctor supported by nurses and paramedics.
The KGMOA’s boycott comes at a time when the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) authorities in Kochi were facing intense public criticism for not having a medical team on standby during the Guinness Book of Records event during which Congress legislator Uma Thomas sustained a near-fatal fall.
On January 2, in a letter to the District Medical Officer, the Thiruvananthapuram unit of KGMOA said government doctors would stay away from festival duty to protest the “unfair” suspension of one of their colleagues attached to the Aryanad Community Health Centre.
The KGMOA said the government had suspended the doctor based on a dubious and unfounded media report that he did private medical practice, contravening government service rules. The KGMOA accused the government of penalising the doctor without giving him a fair hearing and sans a proper enquiry.
The Director of Health Services, K.J. Reena, told The Hindu she had not received any communique indicating that government doctors would not cooperate with the festival.
“I have not received any letter from the doctors about non-cooperation. However, all arrangements are in place in all venues, and district and state teams are to conduct inspections at all festival venues to ensure that medical facilities are being provided”, Dr. Reena said.
Published – January 04, 2025 10:21 am IST
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