Monday, Nov 04, 2002
Monday, Nov 04, 2002 |
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Kerala
By P. Venugopal
``Months have elapsed since this racket was exposed by the press. I had personally gone to the village in Idukki district where several tribals were lured into giving their kidneys to affluent patients in private hospitals in Kozhikode. I contacted the Chief Minister to convey the information I had gathered during my visit. He had then promised that the culprits would be brought to book immediately,'' Mr. Achuthanandan told a press conference here. He said the Government had also asked the Deputy Inspector General for Central Range, Mohammed Yasin, to inquire into the complaint. "My information is that the official had submitted his report months ago. What has happened to this report? Why keep it under wraps? Why this reluctance to proceed with the next stage of action?'' he asked.
He queried whether this reluctance to act was because the victims of the racket
He noted that the Health Minister had also gone to the extent of announcing in advance that nothing illegal had occurred in the case of kidney transplantations in these hospitals.
He said what had occurred in these hospitals was a crime punishable under the 1994 Central Act governing organ transplantation.
The DIG's report was with the Government and more information that would help a full-fledged investigation could be had from the report of the Indian Medical Association(IMA), which had set up a three-member committee to study the issue.
``But initiating criminal proceedings against the culprits is a matter to be decided by the Chief Minister, who holds the police portfolio. It is an issue left to his discretion,'' Mr. Achuthanandan said.
``Mr. Antony's police had shown a great deal of diligence in investigating the forged document issue (involving the MLA, Shobhana George) and rounding up several persons, including some journalists. I wish he shows the same interest in investigating the kidney racket case,'' he said.
Displaying copies of the `original' report and the `doctored' one, which had been released by the IMA, he said it was quite evident that the report was changed to protect the doctors and hospitals involved in the illegal operation.
He said the `original' report had discussed the case of an indigent woman named Rajani, breast-feeding a six-month-old child, being made to donate her kidney.
The gynaecologist attached to the National Hospital in Kozhikode had declared her `fit for kidney donation'.
Similarly, references about money transactions having taken place between the kidney recipients and donors with the knowledge of the doctors and staff of one of the hospitals too had been deleted from the report by the IMA leadership.
"I leave it to the 16,000-odd doctors who are members of the IMA to decide whether they should have such a leadership,'' he said.
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