KASARGOD: The CPM-controlled Kinanur-Karinthalam gram panchayat is planning to "temporarily" house a proposed government college in a palliative care centre, built on a plot donated by the people, and using Nabard's loan.
Volunteers are miffed by the decision but their protests are muffled, said a member of Karinthalam Palliative Care Society. "CPM enjoys a brutal majority in Karinthalam village," he said.
The building -- with an area of 8,665 sq ft -- was supposed to be the first in-patient facility for patients needing palliative care in the district. "But unfortunately, it appears that the dying patients will have to wait till the college building is ready," said M G Praveen, state secretary, Initiative in Palliative Care in Kerala -- an umbrella organisation for palliative care activities in Kerala.
Lok Sabha member from Kasargod and CPM's senior leader P Karunakaran said the decision to allow the building to be used as the college for the time being was by the Karinthalam Palliative Care Society. "I attended the meeting when the decision was taken," he said.
The MP said it was only for one year. "The government had sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the college, and the building would come up in a year," he said.
Moreover, the society does not have the resources to run the palliative care and neither has the government committed doctors and nurses to the centre, Karunakaran said.
'Unjust, unethical'
Praveen said the decision would not stand legal scrutiny. "It is neither legal nor ethical," he said.
The Karinthalam Palliative Care Society -- set up in 2006 -- is the first in Kasargod, and it had helped start several palliative care movements in the district. Today, the society has 800 members, the highest in the state, said Praveen.
In 2010, the members of the society thought up of an in-patient care centre catering to 11 panchayats, said T P Padmanabhan, a founding member. "We wanted it to be a hub to train volunteers in the district; and also to be a day care centre and short-stay home for patients and care givers," he said.
So the volunteers raised enough money to buy 90 cents in Karinthalam village. Several of people gave up their land for meagre price keeping the cause in mind. The land was registered in the name of "all the volunteers of the society". "Tomorrow, when new members join, they would also be owners of the land," said Padmanabhan.
When the society approached Nabard for fund to construct the building, it was told that the agency gave money only to the government or the local body. "So we transferred 50 cents to the panchayat. Because we thought the panchayat was more closer to the people and their causes than the government," he said.
In the transfer deed, it was explicitly written that the building that comes on the plot should be used only as palliative care centre, he said. Nabard said the proposal it received from the panchayat too mentioned that the building was for palliative care.
The project was included in the endosulfan package and Nabard initially released Rs 1.25 crore. "By the time the building was ready, Rs 1.65 crore was spent on it," said an official.
That was when Karunakaran's the initiative to bring in an arts and science college to Karinthalam was taking form. "Around the time when the college was sanctioned, there were rumours that the building would be turned as a college. When he confronted the panchayat leaders, they said assured us that it would not happen," Padmanabhan said. "But now it is happening," he said.
The MP said officials of the Directorate of Collegiate Education had come to Karinthalam to scout for an appropriate building to temporarily house the college. "We showed them several buildings but they found this (palliative care centre) as the ideal," he said. The college would start functioning from June, Karunakaran said.
He also said Padmanabhan was the only person opposing the college in Karinthalam.
However, Praveen and Padmanabhan, a retired health official, said they were not against the college or any developmental projects in Karinthalam. "It is not that a building meant to be a hotel is being converted into a college. It is a palliative centre coming up with people's contribution," said Praveen.
Karinthalam has alone has around 100 cancer patients, and a total of 250 patients requiring palliative care, said Padmanabhan. "Each panchayat in Kasargod has around 250 such patients. Add to them, the endosulfan patients. The entire district lacks a facility like the one slated to come up in Karinthalam," Praveen.
Moreover, a project worth Rs 1.65 crore (palliative centre) took three years to come up. "It is anybody's guess how long the government will take to build the college for which Rs 10 crore has been set aside," he said. "And look at Udma college. Three years on, it is still run from a school building," he said.
When contacted, collector Jeevan Babu K said: "Ideally, a building should be put to its intended use". There was a proposal to use the building as a college but no decision has been taken yet, he said. Nabard said it was not informed about the change in plan to use the building as a college. "I'm stunned to hear this," said an official.
The construction of the building was completed one year ago, but the electrical wiring has not yet been done.
Padmanabhan said there is only one demand: "The panchayat should start the palliative care centre soon, keeping the interest of the patients in mind".
If the panchayat needed land for college, it may use the remaining 40 cents, he said. "We cannot protest or go on strike."