Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president V.T. Balram said here on Friday that the health sector in the State was facing a mega crisis and the recent series of infant deaths at Attappady mirrored this.
He was speaking after inaugurating a day-long fast staged by KSU State president K.M. Abhijit in protest against infant deaths in Attappady.
“When infants die within days after birth and mothers die soon after childbirth, it cannot be the failure of any particular government department. But it becomes the failure of the government in handling the matters that affect people,” he said.
Mr. Balram said it was the achievements of the erstwhile Oommen Chandy government that reflected in the survey results released by the NITI Aayog the other day.
“Neither the Congress nor the United Democratic Front (UDF) made any claims for their achievements. But we saw the people, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, making claims that it was the Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s achievement within hours after the survey results came out.”
Welfare schemes
Mr. Balram accused the LDF government of scuttling several welfare schemes introduced by the UDF for infants and expectant mothers in Attappady.
KSU district president K.S. Jayaghosh presided over the function. Youth Congress State president Shafi Parambil inaugurated the valedictory session after Mr. Abhijit broke his fast in the evening. A UDF team, led by Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, is set to visit Attappady on Monday.