Hyderabad: The state government on Tuesday imposed a ban on private practice by doctors who are recruited from now on in the state’s medical colleges. The government order drew instant criticism from doctors and medical associations.
GO 56 was issued to amend the Telangana Medical Education Services Rules issued under GO 154.
The notice stated that a ban had been imposed on private practice for doctors recruited through direct recruitment or for doctors filled by transfer from non-teaching roles.
The ban applies only to doctors recruited from now on, while the existing doctors can have private practice. The medicos highlighted the “low pay” for doctors at medical colleges and “lack of direct recruitment.”
An associate professor at a medical college here said the decision would discourage most candidates from opting for government jobs.
“During the past 10 years, most service candidates have been recruited for government jobs while direct recruitment is not happening. Due to this, the quality of education imparted in medical hospitals has turned bad. When most youngsters won’t join medical colleges, the quality will get worse,” the doctor said.
President of healthcare reforms doctors association (HRDA) Mahesh Kumar said. “The public might feel this is a good move and would improve services at
government hospitals. Not so. If meritorious and highly skilled doctors can’t have an additional income, and when there are offers of big packages in the private sector, they will think twice about joining government services,” he said.
Currently, the starting salaries of doctors in rural areas is around Rs 63,000 and in urban areas Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000. “The government is doing this as it wants to increase contract recruitment and reduce direct recruitment,” he alleged.
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