HC suspends notification on posts of senior resident doctors

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday suspended the notification issued by state government on filling up posts of senior resident doctors in government medical colleges of the state.

A single judge bench headed by Justice Nimmagadda Venkateswarlu heard a petition filed by Dr. Madam Jhansi Rani of Kurnool and others on Tuesday.

Petitioner’s counsel Jada Sravan Kumar argued that the notification issued by government is discriminatory, as it allows only post-graduate medical students of government medical and dental colleges to apply for the posts. The notification does not let PG students of private colleges apply for these posts.

Sravan Kumar contended that such a norm violates rules of Medical Council of India as also Dental Council of India.

After hearing the parties, the High Court issued an interim order suspending the notification. It directed respondents to file their counter affidavits and posted the next hearing after four weeks.

The director of medical education issued a notification on November 10 for posts of senior residents in Andhra Pradesh Medical Education Services. The notification fixed eligibility criteria that enabled only those who have done their post-graduation in government medical and dental colleges of the state to apply for the senior residents’ posts. The notification disallowed students, who have completed their PG courses in private medical and dental colleges, from applying for these posts.

As many as 1,458 posts of senior residents have been notified. PG students have already appealed to director of medical education for relaxation of norms and allow even PG students from private medical and dental colleges and others to apply for the posts. They cautioned that otherwise, state government will be able to fill only 200–300 of the 1,458 senior resident doctors’ posts in the state.