Govt doctors not willing to join Vaidya Vidhana Parishad

Vijayawada: Nearly 300 government doctors and tutors in 11 government medical colleges are proposed to be assigned to the AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad. However, the doctors and nurses are resisting this and would boycott work for an hour a day.

The state health administration proposed to assign the resident medical officers, casualty medical officers and tutors working in government medical colleges and allied hospitals, with the good intention of availing their services in PHCs, CHCs, area hospital and district hospitals that are working under APVVP.

Doctors held a meeting in Guntur on Friday and decided to express their unwillingness to join APVVP by arguing that they were working at present under the control of the directorate of medical education and do not want any change.

They would submit representation to respective medical superintendents informing them about their move to skip work for an hour daily until their issue gets resolved.

Their representatives rushed to health principal secretary Muddada Ravichandra and health minister Vidadala Rajani in Visakhapatnam and tried to argue their case.

The doctors claim that out of the 408 sanctioned posts of doctors in 30 government hospitals, 167 were lying vacant. So was the case with tutors in five government medical colleges, that have a strength of 158 against a sanctioned strength of 255.

The doctors urged the state government to fill up the vacancies on priority basis.

Moreover, they say they got the opportunity to get absorbed in the directorate of health from the directorate of medical education in 2006 and 2010. They preferred to remain so. “Our shift to APVVP will deprive us of our seniority in service,” they said.

Doctors’ association convener Dr Jayadheer said, “We intend to continue our talks with the government to resolve the issue amicably.”