Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health and Devaswom Minister K Muraleedharan has ordered a statewide inquiry into all medical equipment and related purchases made by the Health Department over the past 10 years, directing that an expert committee submit its report within two weeks.

The minister has instructed the Health Department's Principal Secretary to constitute an inquiry committee comprising senior officials and technical experts. The panel has been tasked with identifying any irregularities, fixing responsibility and recommending further action.

The probe will cover all government medical colleges, government hospitals and other institutions under the Health Department. It will examine the procurement, installation, commissioning, utilisation, maintenance and present status of all medical equipment and related devices purchased during the past decade.

The inquiry will also include equipment procured through Plan funds, the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), other Centrally Sponsored Schemes, and medical equipment supplied by the Central Government during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the minister, the government has received multiple complaints over the years regarding the procurement and utilisation of expensive medical equipment. These include allegations that oxygen concentrators supplied during the COVID-19 pandemic, autoclave machines, solar power plants, generators, and other high-value equipment purchased under various schemes remain uninstalled or uncommissioned in several institutions. In some cases, the equipment has reportedly become non-functional due to poor maintenance.

Muraleedharan said such lapses result in financial losses to the government, wastage of public resources and the denial of essential healthcare services to the public.

The minister said the decision to order the statewide inquiry was prompted by his recent visit to the Government Medical College in Wayanad, where he found several high-value medical equipments, including a mobile mortuary, lying unused for an extended period. Similar reports from other government medical colleges, hospitals and Health Department institutions across the state also prompted the decision, he added.