Hyderabad: Government doctors in Telangana called off a planned statewide strike on Friday, June 5, after Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha assured the Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGGDA) that their demands would be addressed.
The association had announced the agitation over alleged violations of government order (GO) 38, issued in April this year, which lays down structured, transparent guidelines for the transfer of government employees, including doctors. The order establishes mandatory transfer criteria, seniority rules and prioritises the spouse criterion. It is central to the distinction between sought-after urban postings and rural or peripheral ones.
TGGDA president Dr Ramesh had said nearly 5,000 doctors would participate in the strike and that outpatient services would be suspended at major government hospitals across the state, including Osmania General Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and Niloufer Hospital.
The association’s Central Executive Committee had also announced that no State Executive Committee office-bearers would submit transfer option forms until GO 38 was fully implemented.
Following the minister’s intervention, the TGGDA said it was satisfied with the government’s response. The association sought transparent transfers under GO 38 for doctors who have completed four years of service, those with three-year priority status and candidates in the zero-spouse category. It also asked that elected office-bearers of recognised associations be exempted from transfers.
With the minister giving a positive assurance on these demands, the TGGDA announced it was withdrawing all planned protest programmes. Outpatient, inpatient, emergency services and surgeries at all government hospitals across Telangana will continue without disruption, it said.
“Providing quality medical services to the public is our foremost responsibility,” the association said, adding that doctors would be fully available to patients.
