It took the Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, to galvanise the health authorities by springing a surprise visit to Sir Ronald Ross Institute of Tropical Diseases, popularly known as Fever Hospital, in the State capital recently.
The Chief Minister was aghast at the lack of sanitation and absence of senior doctors as he went round the hospital and interacted with patients, who poured out their woes.
Following the visit by the Chief Minister, the Telangana government cracked the whip and issued memos to a dozen erring doctors, including professors in teaching hospitals and in-charge superintendent of Fever Hospital.
The superintendent of Niloufer here was also issued a memo for lack of sanitation, while another surgeon of the same hospital was transferred to MGM Hospital in Warangal. Not only that, the government issued a circular to all the hospitals to report daily on sanitation and attendance of doctors and staff.
In tune with its promise to be employee-friendly, the Telangana government is taking speedy steps to address the issues raised by the staff from time to time.
The latest in the handholding by the government is the concession of the demand of Group-I officers to constitute Telangana Administrative Service on the lines of a similar service in Kerala to speed up their promotion as IAS officers and parity in the working of IAS and Group-I officers.
A high-level committee, which was constituted by the government to go into the demand, recommended that a delegation of Group-I Officers’ Association be sent to Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha to study avenues of promotion and training courses available to them in those States.
While approving the committee’s report, the government passed an order that the tour expenditure of the officers be met by departments where they were posted.
The division of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) staff is giving sleepless nights to the management. The methodology adopted for allocation of tier three officers of the Corporation has not gone down well with the Union. Senior scale officers such as division managers, deputy chief account officers, executive engineers and medical officers, numbering 113, were recently allocated between the two States. But, the APSRTC officers’ union has raised serious objection to division of staff in 13:10 ratio, proportionate to districts in two States.
It wants the authorities to do the allocation on the basis of population – 58:42 as per the AP Reorganisation Act.
Foes are turning friends in the administrative circles in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, bringing in cheers among the employees.
In a contrasting case, 36 engineers of the rank of Deputy Executive Engineer (EE) and Assistant Executive Engineer (DEE) belonging to Telangana will now work on deputation in Andhra Pradesh, provided either their husband or wife is an employee in the State or Central government or Public Sector Unit.
The 36 are among the 176 engineers who were relieved by the Andhra Pradesh government in November as they were recruited for service in Telangana.
However, the Telangana government did not give them any post, forcing them to knock the doors of courts.
As a settlement, the officials of both the States resolved the issue and deputed 36 engineers to work in Andhra Pradesh while the remaining 140 will be given posting in Telangana.
Reporting by Y. Mallaikarjun, N. Rahul, J.S. Ithekhar & Asif Yar Khan