Kasaragod: The Movement for Better Kerala Society (MBK), a civil society group in Kasaragod, has urged Local Self-Government Minister K M Shaji to intervene urgently to address what it described as chronic delays and infrastructure deficiencies affecting the district’s healthcare sector. These included the stalled trauma care block at Thekkil, the medical college hospital at Ukkinadka and the underused hospital facilities at the District Hospital and the General Hospital.

The movement submitted three memorandums to Shaji during his first visit to Kasaragod as the district's minister in charge.

A key demand was regarding the critical care hospital at the Thekkil Tata Hospital site. When the Tata Hospital was wound up, the LDF promised a trauma care centre there. "The government promised to set up the hospital by the end of 2024, but the foundation stone was laid online in 2025, and today the project remains stuck at the pillar stage," said Khalid Kolavayal, General Secretary of the Movement for Better Kerala Society.

The Tata Group had set up an isolation centre during the Covid-19 pandemic using shipping containers at a cost of ₹60 crore. The structure was wasted after the pandemic.

The LDF government then sanctioned ₹23.75 crore through the National Health Mission (NHM) for the critical care block, and another ₹4.05 crore was earmarked for outpatient and inpatient blocks. "But the money remains unused," said Khalid.

MBK urged the minister to direct the contractor to complete the structural works within six months and to convene monthly review meetings to monitor construction progress and fund utilisation.

Kasaragod district does not have a tertiary healthcare facility, and with no timeline for completion of the medical college in place, people are looking forward to the trauma care centre, the group told the minister.

Residents are looking to the proposed trauma and critical care centre at Thakil as their immediate hope for advanced emergency treatment, the movement told the minister.

The organisation also raised concerns over newly constructed buildings at the District Hospital in Kanhangad and the General Hospital in Kasaragod that remain only partially operational despite substantial public investment.

According to MBK, delays in electrification, commissioning and minor civil works have prevented several specialised wings and multi-storey blocks from being opened to patients. It sought an immediate joint inspection by the Health Department and the Local Self-Government Engineering Wing to identify bottlenecks and make the facilities functional.

The civil society group also drew the minister's attention to the Women and Children Hospital (WCH) at Kanhangad, which was inaugurated in February 2021. The WCH is still an annexe of the District Hospital, with severe shortages of gynaecologists, paediatricians, nurses and technicians. It also highlighted the absence or non-functioning of essential diagnostic facilities.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), MBK said, remains inadequately equipped, forcing many economically weaker families to seek treatment outside the district at considerable expense.

The organisation requested that all pending works at the hospital be completed and the facilities opened within 30 days, while also calling for the creation of additional posts to address staffing shortages.

The civil society group also criticised the slow progress of the Government Medical College Hospital at Ukkinadka in Badiadka grama panchayat. Construction began in 2013, but the hospital remains far from operational more than a decade later, it said.

At present, only outpatient services function partially, while the main hospital block, inpatient wards, operation theatres and laboratories remain incomplete. The organisation attributed the delays to administrative hurdles in releasing KIIFB and NABARD funds and settling contractors’ bills.

The unfinished hospital has also created academic difficulties for MBBS students. Although the National Medical Commission has approved MBBS batches, students continue to depend on Kasaragod General Hospital, about 26 kilometres away, for clinical training because the medical college lacks a hospital.

Students are now also forced to depend on the medical college in Kozhikode for clinical training.

The organisation sought the minister’s intervention to ensure that Kasaragod residents are no longer forced to travel to Mangaluru, Kannur and other districts for specialised healthcare services.