Who Is Dr Haris? The Doctor Who Got a Show-Cause Notice That Shook Kerala’s Medical Department
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: Dr Haris Chirakkal, head of the Urology Department at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, has been issued a show-cause on July 29, Tuesday, by the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) after he publicly criticised the acute shortage of surgical equipment in his department through a Facebook post.
The post, in which he stated that three out of four surgeries scheduled on a particular day had to be postponed due to the lack of essential tools, has triggered a political storm and drawn attention to deeper issues in Kerala’s public health system.
The DME, citing the findings of an expert committee, accused Dr Haris of “maligning the reputation of the government and the department” and violating the conduct rules applicable to government servants.
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He has been asked to explain his actions within ten days. The notice contends that the department had sufficient equipment on the day in question, and that surgeries were conducted without interruption the following day.
It also claims that Dr Haris did not raise the matter at official meetings nor escalate it to the Principal or Superintendent of the college, except through two letters.
The Facebook post in question, however, painted a very different picture. Dr Haris wrote that three of four urological procedures were deferred because basic surgical instruments were unavailable, and that he had been petitioning the authorities, including Health Minister Veena George’s office, for several months without receiving any reply. He added that the situation was not new and that doctors were being forced to either cancel surgeries or borrow tools from other departments.
Speaking to Onmanorama, Dr Haris confirmed that he had received the notice but had not been given access to the expert committee’s report on which the action was based. He said he would respond to the notice in writing, but stood by every word in his original post.
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“I had no alternative but to speak publicly. We had exhausted every channel. Letters were sent. Requests were made. I had even flagged this issue to the Minister’s office eight months ago. No one responded. On the day the surgeries were cancelled, we did not have the required tools. The next day’s surgery was performed using instruments borrowed from a colleague. These were not provided by the department,” he told Onmanorama.
Terming the government’s response an insult, Dr Haris said he had nothing to gain by refusing to perform surgeries and rejected the allegation that he had acted with any ulterior motive. He described the notice as a punitive act aimed at silencing those who spoke out, adding that he would not be intimidated.
“The equipment shortage is real, and it continues. The staff at the Hospital Development Society have been informing the authorities daily. If the report says what I said was false, then either the report is wrong or the notice is baseless. Either way, this isn’t about me, it’s about patient care,” he added.
The controversy has drawn sharp reactions from across the state, with opposition leaders, public health experts, and civil society members questioning the government’s priorities.
What deepened the row further was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s response during a press interaction, where he suggested that such statements played into the hands of forces looking to destabilise the state. This remark has not gone down well with many in the medical community, who see Dr Haris not as a disruptor but as a whistleblower trying to uphold professional ethics.
The Urology Department at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College is among the busiest in the state, catering to patients from across Kerala. A delay in scheduled surgeries, especially when caused by the absence of standard equipment, can be life-threatening in several cases.
While the Health Department insists that all necessary tools are available, ground-level reports indicate frequent interruptions and bureaucratic delays in procurement and maintenance.
This episode has also renewed focus on the transparency of internal inquiries and expert committees set up in response to whistleblower complaints.
Dr Haris has demanded that the government make the expert committee’s report public and clarify the basis on which his claims were declared false. He said he would be submitting his reply confidentially to the Additional Chief Secretary of Health.
