Faced with outrage, Kerala health minister makes U-turn on DYFI distribution of food packs in hospitals

Photo shared by Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan of DYFI’s ‘Hridayapoorvam’ Pothichoru food parcel distribution program at Government Hospital.

In the face of intense civic and political outrage, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan on Sunday reversed his opposition to the free distribution of ‘potichor’ (food packets) by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in more than 60 government hospitals in Kerala.

On Saturday, Mr. Muraleedharan said the government would end the distribution of food parcels in hospital premises under the banner of political parties. He said the government would start community kitchens in hospitals. The statement led to a huge uproar, with DYFI and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) accusing the minister of trying to scuttle the humanitarian initiative, which has been running non-stop since DYFI launched it in 2017.

By Sunday evening, the minister’s office issued a clarification that the government is not against the program of free food distribution in hospitals. “The minister’s earlier statement was made regarding the Government Medical College, Alappuzha, where some organizations encroached on the hospital grounds in the name of food distribution. This should not be taken as a blanket statement. It is the government’s wish that the poor get food,” the statement said.

DYFI National President AA Rahim told The Hindu that governments around the world usually try to involve maximum number of community organizations in the health and welfare sector, but unfortunately the UDF government has taken the opposite view which is not beneficial to anyone.

“DYFI organizes blood donation drives in all hospitals and has hundreds of ambulances in which critical patients are taken to hospitals. Would the minister also stop this? Several organizations, including the CH Muhammed Koya Foundation of the Indian Muslim League, organize initiatives in hospital premises under their banner. Many voluntary organizations were distributing food packets even before the DYFI initiative, but what makes our political parties who prepare food different from religion is consumed by people of all walks of life,” said Mr. Rahim.

A DYFI activist from Mattancherry in Kochi collects home-prepared food packets to be delivered to Ernakulam Medical College. | Photo credit: File photo

Since 2017

The DYFI initiative started in 2017 from Vilapilsala in Thiruvananthapuram, where a local unit started distributing food to a charity that rescued people from the streets. The district committee of the organization later implemented it under the trade name ‘Hridayapoorvam’ at Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, with an initial batch of 600 packets. The program has now expanded to more than 60 hospitals with a total of more than 40,000 food packages distributed daily.

According to Mr. Rahim, DYFI district committees prepare distribution tables for the whole year, with each local unit collecting food parcels from households two to three times a year. He accused Mr. Muraleedharan of hypocrisy in naming a publicly funded hospital after his father K. Karunakaran while suppressing the free food distribution program.

No Alternatives: Pinarayi

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said the UDF government was prioritizing denying food to the needy without finding a solution to the unprecedented mismanagement in the health sector. “This is exemplary voluntary work for patients and carers without political considerations. Only those who are inhumane can mix it with the poison of narrow politics. This distribution of packages by all, regardless of party politics and caste and religious differences, is urgently banned before alternative systems are implemented. What benefit does the government stand to gain?” Mr. Vijayan asked in a Facebook post.

BJP’s stand

Significantly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K. Surendran also attacked the minister’s stand, saying the government should not look at the free food distribution through a political lens. “If all those who received food packets had voted for those who gave them, Mr. Muraleedharan would not have been in the Assembly,” he said.

Published – 19 Jul 2026 21:26 IST