Overview
- The Director of Medical Education issued the notice on July 31 under Kerala Government Servants’ Conduct Rules 1960 for Dr. Haris Chirackal’s public criticism of surgical equipment shortages without prior approval from superiors
- A four-member expert committee found that a surgery Dr. Chirackal said was disrupted was performed by another urologist the next day and noted he had only sent two prior letters rather than formally escalating the issue
- Health Minister Veena George characterized the action as standard departmental procedure and cited the committee’s call to boost purchasing authority for hospital superintendents
- Dr. Chirackal plans to submit his written response within seven days and maintains that equipment and accessory shortages persist at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital
- Opposition Leader V D Satheesan alleged the government is using the notice punitively and even seeks to implicate the doctor in a theft case