AIADMK Raises Kidney Theft Racket in Assembly

Chennai: Wearing badges, with the legend ‘Save the Kidneys’ emblazoned on them, in their shirts, AIADMK MLAs raised the human organ-theft scam, unearthed in Namakkal and Pallipalayam areas a few months ago, in the Assembly on Thursday evoking a reply from the State Health Minister M Subramanian, who said two persons had been arrested an departmental action had been initiated against 7 others.

The scam related to impoverished weavers in the power loom industry being allegedly taken for a ride by racketeers, who made them part with their kidneys for transplanting them to other persons and not paying the donors the promised compensation, through the surgeries conducted in two hospitals – Cethar Hospital in Trichy and Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Hospital in Perambalur.

Subramanian told the Assembly that a committee, headed by an IAS officer S Vineeth, was probing the kidney heist case, two persons had been arrested and the hospital licence for organ transplant was cancelled on July 23 itself.

Similar complaints were received by the authorities from Salem, Dharmapuri and Namakkal earlier and the previous government did not initiate any legal action or bring in any new legislation to check the practice, the Minister said.

But now without any partiality the license of the hospital had been cancelled and the Director of Medical Services had been instructed to act against the medical professionals who were part of the kidney heist racket, he said.

Two accused, Stalin Mohan and Anandan, were facing criminal action and adoption of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) had been recommended, he clarified.

Earlier, moving the special call attention motion, Palaniswami alleged that the State government had gone on appeal against an order passed by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on the Special Investigation Team that went into the scandal.

Even the government did not act properly in the report submitted by the SIT, he alleged, adding that the people were exploited because of their poverty by the racketeers who minted money in crores. He wanted action against the hospitals and the doctors who issued the certificate.

In another protest in the House, PMK members owing allegiance to the party president Anbumani Ramadoss wore black shirts expressing their anger against Speaker M Appavu for not recognizing their group as the PMK legislative party and appointing their nominee, Venkateswaran as leader instead of G K Mani, who had been hold the position since the beginning.

Since the three members’ demands to the Speaker were not acceded they also boycotted the proceedings and alleged that they were being ignored. Anbumani Ramadoss, in a statement issued outside the House, said the Speakers’ denial of recognition to his group members was a murder of democracy.