Lack of coordination in handling Nipah outbreak, alleges Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan

Alleging a lack of coordination in the State government’s handling of the situation after a Nipah virus infection was reported in Kozhikode, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said that the government should take immediate steps to prevent the spread of the virus and to ensure all the necessary treatment and supply of medicines.

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Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (June 14, 2026), Mr. Vijayan said that the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) does not intend to turn Nipah into a political tool as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had done when it was in the Opposition. The Opposition will cooperate fully in all activities to prevent the spread of the virus.

“This is a time for a united fight to contain the virus. However, the Health Minister and the Health department who are supposed to take a leadership role in this has not been coordinating well with the district administration. This is evident from their respective public statements. Earlier, when Nipah outbreaks happened during the LDF government’s tenure, the Health Ministers had camped at the region to coordinate the activities. It is unfortunate that such a kind of vigilance or coordination is not visible currently,” he said. 

He alleged that people’s representatives are being kept away from the Nipah control room instead of using their resources for containment and tracing activities as was done in the past. The transfer of Director of Health Services (DHS) K.J. Reena at such a juncture is also surprising, he said.

“A transparent system exists here now regarding transfers. Is the UDF government trying to transfer her out because she did not cooperate with the attempts to scuttle that system? We all know how money was involved in decisions regarding important postings before the LDF government came to power. Is the new government trying to take us back to those times? The LDF government had extended the DHS’s term by a year. The issue is whether the CM was also aware of this transfer which goes against the previous government’s decision,” he said.

Mr. Vijayan said that the outbreak of Shigella, West Nile Fever and Dengue Fever are all concerning and calls for a concerted effort from the authorities. The spread of vector-borne diseases points at a failure of pre-monsoon cleaning activities.

“The Health Minister who used to utter curse words when disease outbreaks happened during the previous government’s tenure should realise that we will not respond in a similar manner. I hope he must have attained wisdom in the past one month to know that virus outbreaks are not related to the government in power at a particular time. The Minister is attempting to wash his hands of all the responsibilities by blaming the officials,” he said.