DYFI Will Continue Free Meal Distribution at Hosptals; No Minister Can Stop It, Says V. K. Sanoj

Kannur: DYFI Kerala State Secretary and MLA V K Sanoj has accused Health Minister K Muraleedharan of politicising DYFI's Hridayapoorvam free meal distribution programme, which he said has benefited thousands of people and received support across political lines.

Sanoj said DYFI has never engaged in any political activity while distributing food and asserted that the organisation would continue the programme in the coming days just as it has done so far. "No minister can stop it," he said.

He pointed out that DYFI operates hundreds of ambulances across the state and questioned whether the minister would also seek to stop those services. Sanoj also said DYFI facilitates blood donation for more than a thousand people every day and recalled that even during the tenure of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, DYFI had received recognition as the organisation that donated the highest amount of blood. He asked whether the minister would now also seek to prevent DYFI's blood donation activities and questioned why Muraleedharan was "afraid" of the organisation.

Sanoj alleged that it was UDF leaders, not DYFI, who had introduced politics into the issue. He said no law-and-order problems had ever been reported in connection with DYFI's food distribution programme and noted that the meal packets did not carry stickers or any form of political publicity. He demanded that the minister explain the basis for the government's intervention.

He further argued that if the government considered the food distribution programme political, then institutions such as government medical colleges named after the minister's father, K Karunakaran, and the KSRTC free travel scheme for women named after Indira Gandhi should also be viewed in the same light. Sanoj accused the minister and the Congress of using the issue as a political tool to divert attention from more pressing challenges facing the government.

He also criticised the health minister's performance, saying Muraleedharan had failed to effectively coordinate the state's healthcare services and should instead focus on improving the condition of government hospitals.