- KMSCL functions in a makeshift godown in Naduvannur 30 km away from city
- Govt Medical College is major consumer of medicines
- KMSCL pays Rs 5.5 lakh monthly rent for godown
- Crores of rupees spent for transportation of medicines at present
- Main demand is to get land on medical college campus to set up godown
Kozhikode: The long pending request of Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) has finally received a boost from the Government Medical College authority, Kozhikode.
The medical college has sent a positive note to the state government requesting to allot land to the corporation on the campus to set up its godown.
This move from the medical college authority will boost KMSCL's efforts to locate a suitable plot.
Since the inception of KMSCL, there has been a demand for 1.5 acres of land to build a godown in the city to stock medicines and materials for the government hospitals in the district.
The demand goes back to 2008; meanwhile, Rs 25 crore was alloted by the state government to set up godowns of the corporation in Alappuzha, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kannur and Kozhikode in 2012.
Among these, Alappuzha unit has been completed so far. Malappuram, Kannur and Thrissur units were alloted land recently by the state government.
But in Kozhikode, a decision is still pending on land allocation and acquisition.
At present, a hefty amount is being paid yearly in terms of rent and transportation charges to carry medicines to the Government Medical College daily from a makeshift warehouse at Karuvannur in Naduvannur panchayat.
The warehouse in Karuvannur is 30 km away from the city; the 28,271 sq ft godown comes at a rent of Rs 5.5 lakh rent monthly. Rs 6,70,07,379 had been paid as rent for the godown in Karuvannur unit until December 2022, informed health minister Veena George in the state assembly as a response to Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan's query.
Apart from that, the corporation has to pay a huge amount for transportation of the goods as a major chunk of the drugs and supportive materials are distributed at the medical college which is situated in Chevayur near Kozhikode city.
There is also an allegation that a mafia is trying to influence the officials to prevent the land allocation for setting up the new godown.
M Sreejayan, superintendent of the medical college, told Onmanorama that they have forwarded a supportive note to the government citing the benefits for both the parties.
"I sent a letter to the the government medical college principal on May 29 recommending to allot the land inside the campus; subsequently the medical college sent a request to the state government citing that 70 per cent of the drugs from KMSCL is distributed at the medical college. If the godown is set up on the campus, that would be a great help to the medical college as well as for the corporation," he said.
Medical college campus has 274 acres of land under government ownership. It will not be difficult to spare a 1.5 acre for the godown for the facility. It is the state government which has to arrive at a decision. If the government asks about it, we will support it wholeheartedly," he added.
Earlier discussions were on to set up a warehouse in the 1.5 acres of land belonging to Chevayur Dermatology hospital. But the land acquisition did not materialise as planned.
Even though the corporation tried to get the land at the Dermatology hospital, it was allotted for sports council, reportedly due to lack of proper intervention.
Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram are the two major units of the corporation in terms of medicine distribution because of the presence of the government medical colleges.