AIADMK General Secretary and Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami directly linked the two hospitals to Manachanallur DMK MLA Kathiravan.
Published Jul 24, 2025 | 3:32 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 24, 2025 | 3:32 PM
Kidneys. (iStock)
Synopsis: The move followed revelations from Namakkal, where a woman said in a viral video that she had sold her kidney for ₹5 lakh through a middleman. Officials launched inspections in Pallipalayam and identified six suspected donors. One of them was admitted to the procedure in a private hospital, and his testimony was recorded. Searches were currently on for other donors.
Tamil Nadu’s Health Department has temporarily revoked the permission granted for two private hospitals in Namakkal to undertake kidney transplants after an inquiry reportedly revealed irregularities in organ trade.
In a statement released on Wednesday, 24 July, the department said approval for the kidney transplant granted to Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital at Perambalur and Cethar Hospital at Tiruchy has been revoked. Officials said the decision was based on an interim report prepared by a high‑level inquiry team.
The committee, led by Dr S Vineeth, Director of the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, also included Dr RM Meenakshisundari, Joint Director (Legal), Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services, Dr A Rajmohan, Joint Director of Health Services in Namakkal, Dr K Marimuthu, Joint Director of Health Services in Perambalur and Ariyalur, and Seetharaman, a DSP with the health department.
Dr Vineeth inspected Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College Hospital on Tuesday, while Meenakshisundari’s team checked Cethar Hospital in Tiruchy on 18 July. Acting on the team’s findings, the Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services enforced Section 16(2) of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, and ordered the temporary suspension of transplant licences of both hospitals.
However, the release did not detail the hospitals’ alleged involvement or any financial gain from a suspected organ racket.
The move followed revelations from Namakkal, where a woman said in a viral video that she had sold her kidney for ₹5 lakh through a middleman. Officials launched inspections in Pallipalayam and identified six suspected donors. One of them was admitted to the procedure in a private hospital, and his testimony was recorded. Searches were currently on for other donors.
According to health officials, all treatments except dialysis have been stopped at one private hospital in Erode, and a show‑cause notice has been sent to another hospital in Tiruchy. There are also enquiries underway in Perambalur and Thanjavur as part of the same probe. Investigators were still searching for a key middleman believed to have coordinated the illegal transplants.
AIADMK General Secretary and Opposition Leader Edappadi K Palaniswami directly linked the two hospitals to Manachanallur DMK MLA Kathiravan.
Addressing the media, Palaniswami said, “You trusted and voted for them, and now organs are being taken away from poor people. This is not our claim alone, the DMK government’s statement confirms that kidney smuggling is happening in hospitals run by their men.” He added that such rackets thrive only when those in power look the other way.
Palaniswami said the issue was not just an allegation from his party but something the ruling DMK itself had acknowledged in an official statement. “You trusted and voted for them, and now organs are being taken away from poor people. This is not our claim alone, the DMK government’s statement confirms that kidney smuggling is happening in hospitals run by their men,” he said.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan supported the claims, alleging that a well‑organised racket was operating under the protection of influential people.
Tamil Nadu BJP former president K Annamalai also pressed for stronger action. He said that a network of brokers in rural areas had been targeting poor individuals and that a racket of this scale could not have operated without protection from influential people.
He urged the state to form a special investigation team to uncover the truth, saying what had come out so far was only the tip of the iceberg.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
