Ban on govt doctors for private practice

Hyderabad: In a recent turn of developments, the government doctors will not be allowed to do private practice from now onwards. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has reportedly given a green signal to this rule, suggested by medical and health department. According to sources, the new rule will be applicable to the new recruits and not for those doctors, already working.

The government is reportedly mulling to raise the salaries of the new recruited doctors as they lose private practice. Likewise, salaries and duty timings will be fixed like those in NIMS. The government is going to fill 12,755 medical staff vacancies across the State including more than 10,000 vacancies of doctors, staff nurses, ANM posts. There will be written test for the posts of all categories except for the 3,000 vacant doctor posts.

This is not for the first time that a proposal to ban private practice by government doctors is considered. The then TDP government led by former Minister NT Rama Rao had proposed to implement the ban in 1983 but met with harsh resistance.