Telangana doctors seek offline counselling, two-year eligibility in transfers

Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha on Monday assured government doctors that the upcoming transfer process in the Health Department would be conducted transparently and strictly in accordance with Government Order (GO) 38 issued by the State government.

The assurance came during a meeting with representatives of the Telangana Government Doctors Association and Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association, who raised several concerns and suggestions regarding the ongoing transfer exercise.

During the meeting held on Monday, representatives of the associations urged the government to address several concerns related to transfers of government doctors. Among their key demands was making doctors who had completed at least two years of service at a station eligible for request transfers. They said the existing criteria were rendering a majority of doctors in the Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (TVVP) and Directorate of Health (DH) services ineligible.

The doctors’ bodies also requested that there should be no mandatory shifting of doctors to rural or remote areas unless one opts for such a transfer. Further, it sought offline/ physical counselling during the transfer process to ensure transparency, fairness and proper grievance redressal.

Responding to the concerns, the Minister reiterated that the transfer process would strictly follow the provisions laid down in GO 38. The Minister said the cooperation of doctors would play a crucial role in achieving these objectives and assured them that transfers would be carried out while taking into account the specific requirements of medical colleges and hospitals.