Kasaragod: Just weeks before the declaration of the Assembly election, Kasaragod MLA and IUML leader N A Nellikkunnu has said he will move the High Court against Health Minister Veena George, accusing the government of neglecting the health sector in the northernmost district.

The move comes at a time when the minister is already under attack from various quarters, including the Opposition, over a series of alleged medical negligence cases in government hospitals across the state.

The three-time MLA said the government had failed to complete the medical college hospital block in Kasaragod despite being in power for 10 years. The foundation stone for the project was laid in November 2013 by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, during Nellikkunnu's first term as MLA.

At present, he said, the medical college offers only outpatient consultations "like a clinic". "Other than that, people are not getting the services a medical college is expected to provide," he said.

He said he will move the High Court against the government and the health minister for the inordinate delay in constructing the medical college hospital block. "This case will be against the abject negligence shown to Kasaragod district in the matter of health. As the health minister, she should have seen the suffering of the people of Kasaragod." He said he had already spoken to lawyers and would file the writ petition before the election was notified.

'Pleasing answers, no reality'
Nellikkunnu said he had repeatedly raised the issue inside the Assembly and outside. "You can check the records of any session, whether it was raising questions, submissions or a calling attention motion. I have intervened consistently at the Kasaragod Medical College," he said.

"Every time, the minister gives an answer that makes everyone happy. But it does not translate into reality." In the latest round, the MLA said, the government sanctioned ₹160 crore under KIIFB for completion of the construction. "A part of the amount has been released," he said.

This academic year, 50 students joined the MBBS course at the Kasaragod Government Medical College. "They call me almost daily to share the inconveniences they face. It affects not just them, but their families and their future," he said.

Unpaid bills and delay
Last month, Veena George released a six-minute video stating that work on the medical college had been delayed because the contractor had approached the court. What she did not explain was why the contractor went to court in the first place.

The LDF government refused to clear between ₹6 crore and ₹9 crore worth of pending bills, citing a lack of funds. The Erode-based contractor, RR Thulasi Builders, stopped work and approached the High Court in 2022. Despite several interim orders, the dues were not cleared.

In November 2025, the government reached an understanding to clear the payments, the minister said. The contractor later approached the court again seeking interest on the delayed payments. The remaining work has now been entrusted to the government's go-to contractor ULCCS. Had the dues been cleared on time, Kasaragod might already have had a functioning medical college hospital, he said.

Buildings without staff
Nellikkunnu said he would also raise what he called the broader neglect of Kasaragod's health sector. The focus of the government has been on civil construction, not on posting human resources. Kasaragod has hospital buildings without adequate doctors and nurses.

In her video, Veena George listed several achievements, labour blocks at Vellarikundu Taluk Hospital in Poodamkallu and at Nileshwar, a neurologist and a Cath Lab at the District Hospital, and civil works at primary and community health centres. She also said 814 posts had been created in the district.

But creation of posts and filling them are two different things, said Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association.

The 100-bed Women and Children's Hospital in Kanhangad, inaugurated in February 2021, became operational only in March 2023. Nearly three years on, it still does not have a full complement of doctors or nurses. Two gynaecologists -- one on a working arrangement and another on an ad hoc basis -- visit three days a week. Childbirths are handled only on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, when an anaesthetist is available from the District Hospital.

In three years, the hospital has handled close to 100 childbirths. In contrast, the District Hospital in Kanhangad handles around 100 childbirths a month; the General Hospital in Kasaragod handles about 150.

The two are the only government hospitals in the district that admit childbirth cases round the clock. Yet, two of the three sanctioned gynaecologist posts at the District Hospital have remained vacant for nearly two years.

The government built labour blocks in Nileshwar and Poodamkallu taluk hospitals, but they do not accept pregnancy cases due to a lack of gynaecologists. The other three taluk hospitals at Mangalpady, Badiadka and Trikaripur do not have dedicated blocks either. Kasaragod must be the only district where taluk hospitals do not take childbirth cases.

Nearly 70 per cent of childbirths in the district take place in private hospitals, said government doctors. The government changed the names of community health centres to taluk hospitals in these places, but the staff pattern remains the same.

In December 2025, the government created 202 doctor posts across Kerala, including 14 for the Women and Children's Hospital in Kasaragod. But no nurse posts have yet been created.

Of the remaining 188 posts, Kasaragod received 11, including two cardiologists and a nephrologist for the District Hospital. "Even now, with labour blocks built for ₹1 crore each in some taluk hospitals, they cannot admit childbirth cases because there is only one gynaecologist each," a KGMOA office-bearer said.

'Fight will continue'
As the Assembly session begins in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Nellikkunnu said he would meet the minister once more before moving the High Court. "We don't know who will be the next MLA of Kasaragod. Even if I do not return to the Assembly, I will continue this fight for the people of Kasaragod. Let's see if we can get things done through court directions."