Kerala hospital building collapse | Opposition protests in Kerala demand Veena George's resignation

Opposition Congress-led UDF demanded that the government should give financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh, job to the deceased woman's daughter who is a nursing student and meet the treatment expenses of the daughter who was under treatment at the medical college hospital.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Friday witnessed strong protests across the state by the Opposition parties demanding the resignation of health minister Veena George in view of the death of a woman following a building collapse at the government medical college hospital in Kottayam on Thursday.

The protests aggravated further when the hospital as well as local body authorities stated that the building which had collapsed was declared unfit 10 years ago and that still patients were being kept in it.

Congress, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and BJP staged the protests. The protest marches to the minister's official residence in Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam medical college turned violent with activists tried to break police barricades.

Protest marches were also staged to the residence of the minister in Pathanamthitta as well as various hospitals in the state where buildings are in dilapidated condition.

Meanwhile, the funeral of Kottayam native Bindu witnessed highly emotional scenes with her son, daughter and mother screaming while her husband was struggling to hold his emotions. Bindu's son Navaneeth could be heard lamenting that though he pleaded to many for a swift search operation among the debris of the collapsed building no one could save his mother.

The family was economically weak and Bindu, who worked at a textile shop, and her husband were struggling to run the family.

Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) demanded that the government should give financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh, job to her daughter who is a nursing student and meet the treatment expenses of her daughter who was under treatment at the medical college hospital.

The BJP demanded that a criminal case should be registered against the Health Minister as well as Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan for allegedly delaying the rescue operation.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan said that there was no question of the Health Minister resigning. He alleged that a campaign to tarnish the image of the state health sector was going on.

Meanwhile, resentment is brewing within the CPI(M) against the health minister. Some local CPM leaders of her home district Pathanamthitta made social media posts criticising Veena over the hospital building mishap incident.