Telangana bans private practice for doctors directly recruited by govt

The Telangana government on Tuesday, June 7, issued an order imposing a total ban on private practice for doctors hired through direct recruitment. Doctors in posts filled by transfer from the non-teaching side recruited after the issue of a notification on Tuesday will also not be allowed private practice.

"Henceforth there shall be a total ban on private practice for the doctors recruited through direct recruitment and doctors filled by transfer from non-teaching side recruited after the issue of this notification shall not be allowed private practice," the state health department said in a notification. The notification was issued, making amendments, via Government Order (GO), to the Telangana Medical Education Service Rules.

The amendment, which also covers specialist and super-specialist doctors, came a day after Telangana Health Minister Harish Rao made an announcement to this effect. This ban will also apply to doctors with an MBBS qualification who join the post of civil assistant surgeon or specialist civil assistant surgeon in the department of public health, the Times of India reported.

The move saw stiff opposition from many, including the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA), which argued that while it condemns doctors practicing outside during their duty hours, doctors should be allowed to practice privately otherwise outside of those hours. The association pointed out that the government job often paid them lower salaries than other opportunities in the private sector and alleged that there was also a lack of facilities in primary healthcare centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs) in the state.

“The decision will lead to an extra financial burden on the government as it has to provide non-practicing allowances to doctors now,” TJUDA general secretary Dr. Vanya Jasmine told The New Indian Express.

With PTI inputs