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Political apathy costs Kerala prestige project

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala's loss is Bangladesh's gain.

Literally so, with the prestigious US-based Johns Hopkins University withdrawing a proposal to set up a Rs 7 billion institute for public health.

Now, Johns Hopkins has decided to associate with a new university for public health, proposed by Bangladesh. Thus, the prestigious US-based research facility will partner a university to be set up in Dhaka with foreign funding.

In the process, Hopkins has apparently taught the Kerala government a lesson. Sources indicate that the decision to withdraw was taken following the cold shoulder treatment Hopkins officials received during recent visits to Kerala, at the hands of an apathetic government.

Ironically, the state government realised the danger just recently, and began showing renewed interest in the project. However, this change of heart came too late -- an official letter from the Kerala government to the Hopkins authorities seeking clarifications on the project has been categorically rebuffed by the US-based facility.

Kerala's cavalier treatment, in fact, appears to have soured it for Hopkins as far as India is concerned -- thus, attempts by other Indian states to lure the project onto their own territory have also been rebuffed.

The initial interest shown by Hopkins came following initiatives by Keralite doctors settled in the United States.

Thus, a team from Hopkins visited Kerala and settled on the Munnar region, in Idukki district, situated 5,000 feet above sea level, as the ideal location for the institute.

The team then discussed modalities with Chief Minister E K Nayanar and Health Minister A C Shanmughadas, during their own visit to the US.

Matters were nearing the 'sign on the dotted line' stage when politics, as always the bane of Kerala, crept in. Opposition parties and assorted 'health experts' kept up a drumroll of criticism, and the government got the predictable cold feet.

What made the scene even more convoluted was the opposition that came within the ranks of the CPI-M itself, given that party's position at the head of the ruling Left Democratic Front alliance.

Academic opposition was on the ground that Kerala, which has pioneered public health delivery systems, did not need such an institute. Meanwhile, the political opposition revolved around the suspicion that there was a 'hidden agenda' behind the project.

Allegations then emanated from certain quarters that Carle Taylor, spearheading the proposed project on behalf of Johns Hopkins, was involved in espionage activities.

'Espionage' is, in Kerala, a handy stick to beat anything with -- and once that particular weapon surfaced, the government's feet got positively frozen. The government, which by then had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hopkins, promptly dissociated it from a planned international seminar it had organised in the state capital as a prelude to the establishment of the institute.

This, for Hopkins, was the unkindest cut of all -- and the direct cue for it to decide to cut loose from Kerala, and seek the more promising pastures opening up in Bangladesh.

The state government, unaware that Hopkins had had enough, meanwhile passed the buck to the federal government in New Delhi, asking for a final decision.

The health ministry, after investigating the various allegations and finding them, predictably, baseless, sought additional details as a prelude to clearing the project.

At this, the state government wrote to Hopkins asking for the additional details -- and got back a formal letter saying in effect that the deal was off.

It is the NRI doctors, who first took the initiative to put Johns Hopkins in touch with the state government, that is now feeling the brunt. They say that after the fiasco, the authorities at Johns Hopkins have begun treating them in a markedly unfriendly fashion.

And this could be merely the beginning. Sources indicate that the bad experience of Johns Hopkins could impact negatively on the plans of another prestigious US medical facility.

The renowned Mayo Clinic is finalising plans to set up a centre for excellence in diabetics, with Thrissur as the venue, at a projected cost of Rs 5 billion.

That project, say inside sources, is now in trouble... and could soon go the way of the proposed Johns Hopkins institute.

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