KCR\'s back: 1200 PG docs to be hired, remdesivir to be stocked aplenty

Hyderabad: With COVID-19 cases reaching 43000 and spreading to rural Telangana, chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Friday put the state government into emergency mode. Three important decisions were taken: a contingency fund of Rs 100 crore will be created for emergency purchases; 1,200 post-grad doctors will be recruited; and 200 doctor vacancies in the primary health centres will be filled.

The Rs 100 crore, to be spent of urgent measures, will be in addition to the regular budget allocation for the medical and health department. The money will be kept at the disposal of the health minister and chief secretary.

The chief minister took these decisions at a high-level meeting at Pragathi Bhavan to review the situation COVID-19.

There were several other decisions also taken, all related to the COVID-19 response. It was also decided to give UGC (University Grants Commission) pay scales to teachers working in medical colleges. And newly appointed nurses will be paid on par with their seniors.

The retirement age for those working in the Ayush department has been enhanced to 65 years. All staff of that department, including those on contract, will get an additional 10 per cent pay as a COVID-19 incentive.

The COVID-19 incentive currently being paid to policemen and sanitation staff of municipalities and panchayats will continue.

The chief minister specifically directed health department officers to ensure that there is no shortage of the three drugs showing promise against COVID--remdesivir, tocilizumab and favilavir--under any circumstances. He wanted them to be provided free to the needy.