Kerala Govt Hospitals Crisis: Budget cuts, Equipment shortages spark Controversy

Thiruvananthapuram: The healthcare sector in Kerala is reeling under a deep crisis due to significant cuts in the state government’s budget allocations. It has been reported that the government has cut off a major portion of the funds set aside for the development and functioning of medical colleges, hospitals, cancer centres and medicines procurement.  

In the previous financial year, Rs 401.24 crore was allocated to upgrade basic infrastructure and treatment systems. However, this year, the government cut Rs 146.89 crore from that amount, leaving only Rs 254.35 crore available.

This drastic reduction in funding has hampered several crucial projects, which are now on hold. Plans to introduce advanced facilities such as Sports Medicine, Molecular Diagnostic Labs, Oncology and Tertiary Care Centres, and even robotic surgeries have been put on hold. The expansion of key services like bone marrow transplants, pain and palliative care, and trauma care units has also been delayed.

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The overall Health Department budget has also not been spared. Out of the Rs 152.13 crore originally allocated, Rs 62.11 crore was withdrawn, leaving only Rs 90.02 crore available. Even the Rs 30 lakh earmarked for blood banks was reduced to Rs 15 lakh, severely impacting the functioning of institutions ranging from district and general hospitals to primary health centres, reports Mathrubhumi.

Further, cancer treatment centres in Kerala have also been affected due to the budget reduction. The Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Centre, a major institution for cancer care in the state, saw its budget slashed from Rs 73 crore to Rs 36.5 crore. Similarly, the Malabar Cancer Centre’s budget was reduced from Rs 26 crore to Rs 14 crore, and the Kochi Cancer Research Centre’s budget saw a cut from Rs 14.5 crore to Rs 9.3 crore.

Another major challenge is the alarming shortage of funds for the purchase of medicines. The state’s health department requires Rs 1,014.92 crore for procuring medicines for government hospitals and medical colleges in the current financial year. However, the financial allocation in the 2025-26 budget was only Rs 356.4 crore.

In the previous year, out of the Rs 934.28 crore allocated for medicine expenditure in 2024-25, the Kerala Medical Services Corporation received Rs 356.4 crore as budget allocation. Later, another Rs 150 crore was given as additional authorisation. Health Minister Veena George had confirmed this situation during a session in the state Assembly. 

According to a latest media report by Mathrubhumi, as of January 2025, the Medical Services Corporation has to pay 693.76 crore as arrears to pharmaceutical companies. The act of companies stopping the supply due to arrears will exacerbate the shortage of medicines in government hospitals.

However, the health department claims that the companies have not withdrawn from the tender process due to non-payment of dues. In the event of a shortage of medicines, patients have to wander outside the hospital to get surgical equipment and medicines because no alternative methods are effective.

Finance Minister denies cuts to health sector funds

Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal on Monday dismissed reports of funding cuts to the public health sector and said that it was "completely baseless". "Not a single rupee has been cut from hospital- or patient-related expenditure," Balagopal said in a Facebook post, adding that treasury restrictions usually do not apply to health spending.

Balagopal told PTI that for the 2024–25 financial year, Rs 9,667 crore was allocated to the health sector, but the sanctioned amount rose to Rs 9,994 crore, 103 per cent of the original allocation. In areas where the budget fell short, additional authorisations were provided, he added.

For the current fiscal, Rs 10,432 crore has been earmarked for health, with Rs 2,504 crore—nearly a quarter—already released in the first three months.

Balagopal also outlined the government's track record since 2021. That year, Rs 8,266 crore was initially allocated to the health sector, but final spending rose to Rs 11,361 crore to meet pandemic-related expenses—137 per cent of the allocation.

In 2022–23, Rs 9,675 crore was spent against an allocation of Rs 9,425 crore, while in 2023–24, Rs 9,014 crore was spent out of Rs 9,430 crore, 96 per cent of the total. The remaining four per cent, Balagopal clarified, was for non-essential components like building construction.

Since the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government returned to power, 770 new posts have been created in the health sector, he added, along with the introduction of modern treatment options such as robotic surgery and paediatric gastroenterology.

The opposition Congress-led UDF had strongly criticised the Health Department after Dr Haris Chirakkal, Head of the Urology Department, flagged shortages of essential medical equipment and delays in surgeries. The UDF also announced plans to appoint a commission to study the health sector and organise a conclave. "The health system in Kerala is on ventilator support," Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan alleged.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that a social media post by a leading senior urologist disclosing a shortage of surgical equipment and delays in surgeries for months at the state-run Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital has gained widespread attention and landed him in an open fight against the health department, all for the sake of his patients.

Dr Haris Chirakkal, Head of the Urology Department at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, shared a detailed Facebook post, which is now deleted, where he highlighted the grim situation at the hospital as he could no longer stay silent as a doctor. Although Dr Chirakkal agreed to delete his Facebook post at the DME’s request, he later told reporters that the issues he raised persist.

In his post, he expressed his frustration after repeated delays in surgeries due to a lack of basic medical equipment. The post, which quickly went viral, triggered a controversy in Kerala and brought to light the severe challenges faced by one of the state’s largest government hospitals.

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