Hyderabad: Govt doctors dodge transfers, cling to city hosps for posting

Hyderabad: Many doctors working under the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) have been sticking to hospitals in Hyderabad, evading transfers, for several years. Some of them have been working here for the last three decades, and some are using the provision of spouses, super specialty wings, and other reasons to overcome the transfers.

These doctors have been sticking to city hospitals like Gandhi, Osmania, and Niloufer over the years. Some of them had joined as assistant professors and got promoted to associate professors and professors but stayed in the city hospitals unmoved. No matter how many times the transfers have taken place, these doctors use their influence to stay in their places. The doctors working in districts have been alleging that they were subject to injustice.

According to sources, a few doctors were taking advantage of their spouses. Some others are arguing that they are super specialty experts and that shifting them to other places would affect the super specialty services in the city. These doctors were doing government jobs and also private practice, which is against the rules. Several governments have come, but these doctors have managed to stay here, and the doctors working in rural areas were unable to utilise modern technology in their hospitals.

The details of the doctors with service for over four years are provided on the DME’s website. According to the data, there are 276 professors who have been working at the same place for four years. Among them, 40 per cent (198 persons) need to be transferred. In the past, the medical colleges were limited in number; hence, no one bothered to look at them even after their long stay. However, in the wake of increased medical colleges, the doctors in rural areas expected the present government would solve their long-pending issues.

According to sources, the nephrology professor working at Osmania Hospital, Kiranmayi Ismail, has been working here for the last 32 years. She got the job in 1992 and has not even transferred to nearby hospitals. Similarly, the cardiology professor at Gandhi Hospital Dr Nitin Kumar, joined the service in 1994, and it has been 30 years since he has been working in the same hospital.

The anaesthesia professor working at Niloufer Hospital, Dr Sadhana Rai, has been working there for the last 26 years and has not moved. The gastroenterology associate professor at Osmania Hospital, Dr Vasif Ali, joined the service in 1994 and has been there for 30 years. The associate professor working in the general surgery wing of the Gandhi Hospital, Dr Muralidhar, has been working in the same hospital for the last 25 years.