Former Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, also fondly known as Shailaja Teacher in the “liberal-secular” media coterie, has been awarded this year’s Central European University (CEU) Open Society Prize.
The award was announced during the virtual convocation of the Central European University in Vienna on Friday. The Central European University is founded by Hungary-American liberal billionaire George Soros, who is known in India for his large scale anti-India propaganda.
According to the Central European University, the annual award has bestowed upon the controversial Communist leader for showing “exceptional distinction” of serving the “ideals of an open society”. KK Shailaja was awarded for her ‘service’ after she was dropped from the cabinet after the left front came back to power in Kerala last month.
Announcing the award, President and Rector of CEU, Michael Ignatieff said, “As minister of public health in the Indian state of Kerala, during the COVID-19 pandemic, KK Shailaja Teacher, demonstrated to the world that determined leadership, community based public health and effective communication can save lives. Shailaja Teacher’s example will inspire young women to enter public service. By awarding CEU’s highest award to Shailaja Teacher, the university honours a public servant and female leader for her commitment to public health services, the bedrock of every open society.”
To all the students who are graduating today, I want to say that learning is a continuous process. Stay curious and keep learning and share your knowledge with others. – K.K. Shailaja Teacher, Former Minister of Health, Kerala, India and 2021 Open Society Prize Recipient
— Central European University (@ceu) June 18, 2021
In her acceptance speech, former Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja claimed it was a pleasure to express her deep gratitude to CEU for conferring the Open Society Prize. “I am truly humbled and honoured to be placed alongside the distinguished previous honoraries, all of whom have made important contributions to an open society,” the Communist leader claimed.
It is worth mentioning that George Soros, through his Open Society University Network, an international grant-making network founded by him, has been trying to interfering in India’s political affairs for a long time. Earlier, Soros had promised to fund at least $1 billion to “fight nationalists” in countries such as India and has been extremely active in funding far-left elements to take on nationalists in the country.
However, it is not a surprise that George Soros has now decided to grant an “award” to the controversial former Kerala Health Minister, who is responsible for amplifying the health crisis not just in Kerala but also in the entire southern India.
Strangely, the controversial Kerala Minister KK Shailaja has been hailed by Soros-funded university for her alleged commitment to the public health system at a time when her own Communist colleagues have rejected her for the mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, KK Shailaja’s achievements were so shoddy that she was dropped as the Kerala Health minister by the Kerala government.
KK Shailaja – the face of Kerala Covid-19 shame
Shailaja, a retired teacher, gained popularity as the health minister for the ‘Kerala model’ of battling the pandemic. She was lauded by national and international media lauded for her handling of the Covid-19 virus. In September last year, similar to Soros-funded university, a UK-based magazine had selected Shailaja as the “Top Thinker of the Year 2020”.
KK Shailaja was at the helm of the ‘Kerala model’ of tackling Covid-19 which was celebrated by the “liberal-secular” press, however, did not translate on the ground as Kerala has become one of the worst affected states in the country during both the waves of Covid-19 pandemic.
Under KK Shailaja’s leadership, the Kerala model of Covid-19 management failed spectacularly. During the first wave, Kerala turned out to be an epicentre of Covid-19 cases with higher caseloads, even affecting neighbouring states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Instead of tackling the pandemic, KK Shailaja and her team indulged in a PR game to boost her image and sell the success of the so-called Kerala model.
In fact, the Kerala Health Ministry was accused of covering up the Covid-19 deaths in the state by underreporting the deaths. A group of researchers had exposed the Kerala government’s shameful act of deliberately hiding the number of people who have succumbed to the pandemic to keep their image intact.
During the second wave of the pandemic, the state consistently reported more than 25,000 cases a day. In the meantime, Kerala and Maharashtra, another non-NDA ruled state, accounted for nearly 75 per cent of the total caseloads in the country. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, the maximum number of new cases reported by Kerala in a single day was on May 12, when the state reported over 43,000 cases in a single day.
The greatness of KK Shailaja was so much that she was thrown out of the Health Ministry by Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in the newly formed government. She has been replaced as the health minister in the state. Despite all that PR campaign, KK Shailaja, aka Shailaja teacher, could not become Health Minister again.
Interestingly, the award to KK Shailaja comes at a time when Kerala has been finding it tough to handle the pandemic in the state. Kerala, which was one of the epicentres of the first wave of the Covid-19, continue to report a high number of fresh cases in the country even as the rest of the country has stabilised the infection. As we speak, Kerala, with a population of around 3 crore people, now leads the country in daily new Covid cases. Over 20% of fresh new cases yesterday were from Kerala alone.
