Youth Congress activists stage a protest in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday following the death of Kollam native Venu at the Government Medical College Hospital. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Senior Congress leader and Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala will extend a helping hand to the family of Venu, an auto driver from Panmana, Kollam, who died recently at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram and whose family alleged that he was not given proper care at the hospital.
Mr. Chennithala said that the Venue family – comprising his wife and two children – would be provided with a health insurance of ₹ 10 lakh and that he would personally bear the annual premium for the same.
Mr. Chennithala visited the Venu family on Friday. He said he is providing the family with health insurance to avoid Venu’s fate.
‘In a sorry state’
He pointed out that all the state medical colleges were in a deplorable state and that the health minister had no right to lead the department. He claimed that Venu’s death was actually a murder committed by the health system and that a case should be filed against the doctors responsible for the same.
According to him, the government should take responsibility for the family. The government claims the state is “number one” when it comes to health. But the poor seem to be left to fend for themselves in a state with so-called “number one” health care, he said.
Mr. Chennithala said the state’s healthcare system was in complete disarray and many hospitals were on the verge of collapse due to lack of equipment and human resources. At the same time, the government was only concerned with launching campaigns for public relations, not solving real problems in the healthcare sector, he pointed out.
Published – 8 Nov 2025 20:06 IST
