Hyderabad: Health babus jittery as Harish Rao's tough avatar begins to unfold

Hyderabad: Bureaucratic circles in the Departments of Medical Education and Public Health are agog with the talk that 'The New Health Minister is tough', if the instructions given by Harish Rao in recent times, are any indication.

No sooner had he taken the charge of the Health department, Harish Rao had given strict orders to the senior officials and district level officers to bring administrative changes. His surprise visits to the hospitals have sent strong signals in the department circles about the shape of things set to come into practice soon. Consequently, this has raised the hackles of top officials including District Medical & Health Officers as they fear of action what if things are not fine at the ground level.

Now his announcement of surprise visits has spurred the district officials to run from major hospitals to a primary health care centre and inspect the quality of the medical services being provided to people. Fixing a cap to the allegations about doctors leaving the hospitals before the duty time, the minister had ordered all the medical officials, doctors and staff to follow timing.

It is learnt that the minister has reportedly instructed the officials to strictly set up biometric systems in the hospitals and sought records also need to be sent to Hyderabad from all the districts. The sources in the Department of Medical Education disclosed to The Hans India that strict action had been recommended against the violators.

With all of these instructions, the internal discussions between the officials in the Department of Medical Education & Public Health emphasised that what was suspected was true, and claims 'The New Minister is Tough'.