Members of Telangana Junior Doctors Association are on a meeting spree with health officials over the clarifications needed regarding postings of post-graduate medical students of the State for the District Residency Programme (DPR) which will commence from April 1.
The members met Health Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi on Wednesday and gave their representation seeking accommodation, food and travel expenses at the locations of their respective postings. The DRP is a mandatory 3-month programme implemented by the National Medical Commission, and all PG medicos have to undergo this programme. The medicos were of the view that if the government cannot provide the facilities, then a relief should be given to them with postings at nearby places. The medicos also informed Mr. Rizvi that neighbouring States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have done the same for medicos of their respective States. The Health Secretary, after hearing their concerns, assured that the matter will be taken up with the Director of Medical Education (DME) Dr. Ramesh Reddy and soon a solution will be provided.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dr Kaushik Kumar, president of JUDA, said: “We want the government to adopt Andhra Pradesh model of counselling and allocation of district hospitals. When the medicos in A.P. found out that in some districts the facilities are not being provided to them, they approached the DME there, and after hearing their concerns, a notice was issued asking the respective authority to allot home districts to those students where there is no accommodation.
Members of T-JUDA on March 19 also met Health Minister Harish Rao and informed him about their concerns. As of now, the medicos are awaiting a notice from the DME so that they can go ahead with the programme.
