Kerala Health Minister K. Muraleedharan
The controversy surrounding the Democratic Youth Federation of India’s (DYFI) free meal distribution programme in government hospitals has snowballed into a major political confrontation between the United Democratic Front (UDF) government and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], with both sides locked in a wider battle over where welfare ends and politics begins.
The sparring intensified on Sunday when Health Minister K. Muraleedharan declared that no political organisation would be allowed to run welfare activities inside government hospitals under its own banner or flag and insisted that the responsibility for services on hospital premises rested solely with the Health department.
“ Under no circumstances will political parties be allowed to function inside hospitals. Hospitals are not places for political activity. Food should not be distributed carrying the name or flag of a political party. The government will not permit that,” Mr. Muraleedharan told reporters at Aranmula.
‘Community kitchens’
Seeking to counter criticism that the government was curbing a humanitarian initiative, the Minister announced that the State would launch community kitchens in partnership with voluntary organisations. “Community kitchens will provide food and there will be no role for the DYFI, Youth Congress, Seva Bharati or any other organisation in food distribution. Charity should be rendered without seeking publicity,” he said.
The DYFI, however, showed no signs of backing down. Rejecting the Minister’s objections, the organisation said it would continue the programme and argued that it had stepped in only because government hospitals lacked an institutional mechanism to provide free meals to patients’ caregivers.
“We do not look at the colour of a person’s flag before serving a meal. The government’s approach has been to stop everything, while ours is to continue serving people. We launched the programme because government medical colleges do not have community kitchens. Let the government start community kitchens; all that matters is that patients and caregivers continue to receive food without interruption,” said V. Vaseef, DYFI State president.
DYFI State secretary V.K. Sanoj said the organisation’s long-running free lunch distribution would continue. He alleged that the Health Minister’s criticism stemmed from the Youth Congress’s inability to undertake similar welfare activities.
Senior CPI(M) leader and former Industries Minister P. Rajeeve came out in support of the DYFI, describing the initiative as a model humanitarian intervention and cautioning that preventing the distribution of free meals could ultimately prove politically costly for the government.
BJP stance
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K. Surendran also questioned the government’s stand and argued that free meal distribution should not be viewed through a political lens. While expressing scepticism about the government’s proposed community kitchen model, he maintained that humanitarian assistance should not become a casualty of political rivalry.
Published – July 19, 2026 07:21 pm IST
