Hyderabad: Govt docs seek pay hike to let go off private practice

Hyderabad: The doctors associations have opposed the proposal to ban private practice by government doctors, and wanted the authorities to implement the non-practicing allowances in case of blanket ban. The government has decided to include a new clause in the recruitment rules that would ensure banning government doctors from private practice. This rule would be applicable for the new recruits as per their service rules. The government would issue notification after making the required changes. According to the officials, this rule was already being implemented in the institutions like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

However, the move has been opposed by the health professionals because of the disparity in the pay to the professionals between the institutions like AIIMS or NIMS. While an Assistant Professor in government hospital gets about Rs 90,000, the juniors get much more than this by virtue of a non-practice allowance of 20 per cent of the basic pay. Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) advisor Dr G Srinivas said that the ban on the private practice was already being implemented in hospitals like NIMS and AIIMS. "If the government wants to implement the new rule, the government should increase the salaries, because the salaries offered by the Telangana government are low," he said.

He also said that the regular doctors were getting Rs 80,000 per month and it was difficult to live with such a salary in a city like Hyderabad. "The government can remove the private practice, but it should make sure that the doctors are paid on par with the doctors at AIIMS. If the same can be done, then the doctors are ready to let go off their private practice," he said.

Dr Lalu Prasad Rathod of Government Doctors Association wanted the government to reconsider the decision. He said that the authorities should take stringent action against those doctors who were involved in private practice during the duties and the Association would help the government in this regard.