Published Oct 28, 2026 | 7:30 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 28, 2026 | 7:30 AM
As many as 128 ventilators are lying unused in various medical college hospitals.
Synopsis: The state government has expressed serious concern that medical equipment bought with public funds during the Covid-19 pandemic and other periods is being left idle because of quality issues, failure to install it, and lack of maintenance. In several cases, the equipment remains in its original packaging, while its warranty periods have expired.
The state government has directed the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau to investigate alleged waste of public money on medical equipment, including iPhones worth ₹7.16 crore, that remain unused in hospitals.
The iPhones, purchased along with fundus cameras for eye examinations, lie unused in various hospitals, with many phones reportedly missing, the government said in its response to a submission by MLA Abin Varkey Kodiyattu on Monday, 26 October.
The government has expressed serious concern that medical equipment bought with public funds during the Covid-19 pandemic and other periods is being left idle because of quality issues, failure to install it, and lack of maintenance.
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In several cases, the equipment remains in its original packaging, while warranty periods have expired.
A special team, headed by the Principal Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department, was constituted to examine the issue, including the quality and necessity of purchases, delays in making equipment operational, and the officials responsible.
The committee received reports on institutions under the Medical Education Department and is reviewing them.
The inquiry found that two oxygen generator plants supplied to Alappuzha Medical College through the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited could not produce oxygen at the required volume and pressure and were not fully operational.
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As many as 128 ventilators supplied under the PM CARES scheme to medical colleges in Kottayam, Manjeri, Kannur and Kozhikode also remain unused due to concerns over quality, operational reliability and maintenance costs.
Similar instances of unused equipment, including ventilators, have been reported at Health Department institutions in Wayanad and Ernakulam.
The government said steps were being taken to identify idle equipment, assess its usefulness and redeploy it to hospitals where it could be put to use.
A Biomedical Equipment Maintenance Programme and a district-level monitoring system are already in place.
The government said it would hold people accountable for lapses and strengthen measures to ensure responsibility for equipment procurement, installation, operation and maintenance, preventing a recurrence of such wasteful expenditure.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
