In one of the first appointments taken up by the government after the formation of Telangana, the medical authorities on Friday conducted counselling for giving postings to 124 in-service doctors who recently completed their postgraduate courses in different specialisations.
The counselling at the auditorium of Directorate of Medical Education was confined to clinical duties in gynaecology, paediatrics, general medicine, anaesthesia, ophthalmology, dermatology and pharmacology. Ninety-eight of the in-service doctors opted for Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad hospitals and twenty others for Directorate of Public Health institutions in the State, including primary health centres. There were six absentees.
On Saturday, counselling will be held for non-clinical posts. The doctors will be re-designated as Civil Assistant Surgeons (Specialist) after they resume duty. The counselling on Friday witnessed the obstruction of a woman doctor from Visakhapatnam, A. Kavitha, by members of Telangana Doctors’ Association on the ground that she belonged to Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Kavitha was issued “order to serve” in Telangana by the Central government, applying the 52:48 principle of distribution of officers between the two States.
But the association members refused to allow her posting which forced counsellors to look for an alternative candidate. However, Dr. Kavitha was later posted to a hospital in Hyderabad after she protested that her service would be terminated if she did not have a job in either State.
The shutdown of power added to the confusion. The Director of Public Health, Champa Naik, was present.
