Published Sep 13, 2026 | 7:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 13, 2026 | 7:00 AM
Minister K Muraleedharan at his office in the state Secretariat.
For an office that is supposed to be busy dealing with Keralam’s health system, the Health Minister’s chamber appears to have developed a health issue of its own: attrition.
K. Muraleedharan took charge as Health, Family Welfare and Devaswom Minister on 18 May. Barely three months later, three members of his personal staff have walked out.
Two senior officials left in July. The latest to bid goodbye is driver Akshay Kumar, who submitted his resignation a couple of days ago.
Three departures in three months may not qualify as an epidemic. But in a ministerial office, where every appointment, transfer and resignation tends to acquire a political afterlife, it is enough to get tongues wagging.
The first exits came in July, when Additional Private Secretary R Sreelal and Assistant Private Secretary K Govindaraj resigned within weeks of joining the minister’s team.
Both cited reasons that are difficult to argue with: long working hours and personal circumstances.
Sreelal, a former Joint Secretary in the General Administration Department who had retired on 31 May, sought to be relieved on 25 June. He reportedly told those around him that the minister’s schedule ran from morning to night and that his domestic circumstances made it difficult to continue.
He also made it clear that he did not simply walk away. Sreelal reportedly stayed on until a replacement was available.
Govindaraj, who continues to serve as Joint Secretary in the General Administration Department, too cited the demanding working hours.
So far, so ordinary.
Except that ministerial offices are rarely allowed to remain ordinary.
Soon, whispers began doing the rounds about differences within the personal staff, competing centres of influence and the alleged high-handed behaviour of some staff members. There was also talk of a discord involving another Additional Private Secretary.
The two officials who resigned, however, dismissed suggestions that internal quarrels had driven them out. Muraleedharan, when asked about the matter, too appeared keen to keep the temperature down. Such things happen in offices, he indicated, and replacements would be made.
And then came August.
The Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) publicly complained about the conduct of the minister’s Private Secretary, Dr D. Sunil. The association alleged that he had overstepped his brief and behaved discourteously towards doctors and other health workers.
The immediate trigger was reportedly a visit to a community health centre, where the KGMOA alleged that a senior woman doctor and civil surgeon was publicly rebuked for not having begun work at 8 am, even though the designated working time for primary and community health centres is 9 am.
The doctors’ association did not mince words. It alleged that the private secretary had no official authority to inspect government health institutions or interfere directly in their administration.
More importantly, KGMOA said this was not an isolated instance. It alleged that similar visits and instances of discourteous behaviour had occurred elsewhere too.
The association warned that such interference could undermine doctors’ authority and the administrative autonomy of health institutions. It also said it would support the minister’s genuine efforts to strengthen public healthcare but would resist what it regarded as interference beyond the private secretary’s jurisdiction.
That episode gave a little more substance to the whispers already circulating in the minister’s office.
Then came the latest resignation — that of driver Akshay Kumar T.
A driver leaving a minister’s personal staff would ordinarily hardly qualify as political news. But coming after two senior-level exits and a public confrontation involving the minister’s office, it inevitably adds another line to the growing question mark.
There is, of course, a larger backdrop.
The UDF government is itself caught in a rather entertaining argument with the Opposition over the size of ministerial personal staff.
Chief Minister VD Satheesan has maintained that the previous LDF government appointed 787 personal staff members during its five-year term. Pinarayi Vijayan has rejected that figure, insisting the number was below 500.
Satheesan has offered to produce names, addresses and other details to substantiate his claim. He has also alleged that the previous government appointed 12 people separately to handle the then Chief Minister’s social media accounts, with their combined monthly salaries exceeding ₹7 lakh.
In other words, while the two sides are arguing over how many people ministers need around them, one ministerial office is attracting attention for how quickly some of those people are leaving.
No public evidence shows that an internal power struggle caused the three resignations.
The officials themselves have cited workload and personal reasons. The allegations concerning the private secretary have come from the KGMOA and remain allegations.
Yet the sequence is hard to ignore.
