25-04-2025
KGMOA threatens to boycott Hajj duties over demand for removal of health official
Kochi: The district unit of the Kerala Govt Medical Officers' Association (KGMOA) has announced that the doctors under the association would boycott Hajj duties if the govt failed to remove district programme manager (DPM) of National Health Mission Dr Sivaprasad from his post.
A statement issued by the association on Friday said that it would boycott Hajj duties, including vaccination, which could disrupt the pilgrimage through Kochi as pilgrims cannot proceed without the vaccination.
District president of the association Dr T Sudhakar and secretary Dr Karthik Balachandran said in a statement that govt's dismissive attitude towards the complaint against Sivaprasad was unacceptable.
"The protest is brewing among the doctors against the lack of proper action on complaints about Shivaprasad's derogatory behaviour towards female doctors and defamatory campaigns on social media. Since March 7, 2025, doctors under KGMOA were in complete non-cooperation, refusing any additional responsibilities beyond patient care in hospitals. Despite the disruption in health services, govt and health department continue to protect Shivaprasad without removing him from the DPM position. Authorities are taking double standards by ignoring the complaints of doctors who tirelessly work for public health. Doctors under their leadership will not take on any additional duties until Dr Shivaprasad is removed from his position," the release said.
