Hyderabad: With counselling for compulsory rural service postings to begin in Telangana State and Andhra Pradesh, medicos are up in arms against the governments. Junior Doctors’ Associations question the governments’ rationale behind sending post graduates to tertiary hospitals, stating that these are already self-sufficient.
PG medical students are mulling whether to attend the counselling and join rural service or not, especially with many saying that medicos of previous years haven’t been paid by the state for many months. Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State governments have issued notifications for rural service counselling to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.
Post grads will be posted in tertiary hospitals in the two states for a year. Meanwhile, anger is simmering among the medicos against the governments for the three-months delay in issue of notification. “Government is also not sure if it wants to have rural service, or else it would have issued the notification earlier,” said post grad medico.
Junior doctors have resolved to oppose the rural service once again citing a lack of rationale behind it. “There is no need of forced employment of post grad residents in government colleges. If this is to serve the poor, then they should send doctors to Primary Health Centres or have private hospitals employ their residents to give free service,” another junior doctor said.
Doctors are also upset over the lack of pay for those who join rural service. Medicos also say that it is a government ploy to fill permanent posts in government hospitals on a temporary yearly basis. Several medicos alrea-dy seem to have decided to boycott rural service. Registration for practice, however, could become a problem for them.
