The fight over resources between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana continues two years after the bifurcation. The last few months has seen a tussle over AP Bhavan in New Delhi, the Hyderabad High Court and over government doctors.
The Telangana Government Doctors’ Association (TGDA) has been protesting over Andhra doctors occupying posts in the state and demand that they be transferred. Sixty doctors belonging to Andhra Pradesh opted to move to AP whereas TGDA claims that 170 doctors from the neighbouring state should go back, reported Deccan Chronicle.
Dr. Putla Srinivas, State President for Telangana Government Doctor Association, said, “Whoever is from Andhra Pradesh has to serve there and not in Telangana. The main reason we fought for Telangana was because we wanted our jobs to be given to us. Not to the non-locals.”
After the state was bifurcated, the Kamalanathan Committee was appointed by the Centre for the division of government employees between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Based on the Kamalnadhan Committee proposal, if a native of Andhra Pradesh studied from 6th to 10th standard in Telangana, he or she will be considered as a native of Telangana. “If such a candidate gets posted here, we won’t object. If doctors from Andhra Pradesh get appointed here, the Telangana aspirants will never get postings and the senior doctors will not get promoted. In spite of vacancies in Andhra Pradesh, the doctors are still continuing to serve in Telangana,” said a member of TGDA.
According to Firstpost, the tug of war between doctors is for posting in government hospitals in Hyderabad. In January this year, 200 doctors at Gandhi Medical Hospital in Hyderabad shut down the out-patient services, blocking the main gates and crippling emergency care for patients.
Dr. Srinivas said Gandhi Medical Hospital in Hyderabad shares an imbalanced ratio of doctors from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “In Gandhi hospital, 230 doctors belong to Andhra Pradesh and native doctors are very less. We took this matter seriously and also gave a representation from our side to Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and also Kamalnadhan Committee,” he said.
32 Telangana doctors who were posted in Andhra Pradesh were shifted to Telangana after the association raised the matter.
But the Andhra Pradesh side has also witnessed agitations. Earlier this month, the Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors’ Association threatened to protest in Vishakhapatnam following a proposal to allocate Andhra super-speciality doctors to Telangana. The association, however, called off their protest after their representation to Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas, who stalled the proposal, retaining the doctors.
Dr D Jayadheer Babu , secretary of APGDA said, “They cannot blame us saying we are taking their posts. We will stick to what Kamalnadhan Committee decides. Telangana is a part of India. If one wishes to work there and has nativity qualification, then he or she should be allowed to work wherever they want.” He also said, “Telangana doctors are influencing Kamalnathan Committee as they work from Telangana Secretariat.”
The Kamalnathan Committee is expected to release the final list of postings in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The bifurcation will be based on a 48:52 ratio between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh respectively.