Published Oct 19, 2022 | 2:51 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 19, 2022 | 4:36 PM
AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (Supplied)
Doctors from Karnataka woke up to a pleasant surprise on Wednesday, 19 October, in the form of an advertisement from Andhra Pradesh’s YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government
The advertisement extended an invitation to candidates from Karnataka for walk-in interviews to fill 400 vacant posts of speciality and super speciality doctors in government hospitals in Andhra Pradesh.
“I was quite curious about the front-page ad of a daily newspaper in Karnataka, announcing ‘Walk-in-interviews for appointment of Speciality and Super Speciality doctors’ on permanent or contract basis in government hospitals of Andhra Pradesh under the Directorate of Medical Education of the Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (APVVP),” a doctor at a PHC in the Ballari district of Karnataka told South First.
The Jagan government has announced several flagship programmes — including the concept of a family physician who would visit every household to provide quality healthcare at the village level as a preventive measure.
The government claims it is also looking to “develop village clinics, primary health centres, etc, and also establish Dr YSR village/urban health clinics as part of the expansion of the Dr YSR Aarogyasri services.”
Walk-in interviews are to be conducted on 19, 20, and 21 October in the office of the Director of Medical Educaiton at the Old Government General Hospital in Vijayawada.
The health department has stated that they have already recruited 2,797 specialist doctors, 929 medical officers, 4,894 staff nurses, 8,351 MLHPs, 13,154 ANMs, 7,005 paramedics, 249 data entry operators, and 3,297 class-IV employees in the last three years and four months.
The current interviews will be to hire at least 172 specialists and super specialist doctors for radiology, general medicine, and paediatric posts.
“Interviews will be conducted for 17 radiology, 16 emergency medicine, 13 forensic medicine, and 13 pathology posts under broad specialities, 12 cardiology, nine urology, eight neurosurgery, and four paediatric surgery in the category of super specialities, and 34 general medicine, 24 radiology, 13 general surgery, and nine paediatric posts in APVVP,” the advertisement mentioned.
Majority of the doctors agreed to speak to South First only on condition of anonymity.
However, many of the doctors, especially those on contract have decided to attend the interview that is scheduled in the next three days in Vijayawada.
“I am keen to attend as my home town in Nangli and I can easily travel to anywhere in Andhra Pradesh. I am a urologist, and if I am going to get a better opportunity and salary there, I don’t mind moving,” a doctor from a PHC in Kolar, who’s on a contract basis, told South First.
Several doctors from Ballari, Raichur, Koppal, Sindhanur, Chikkaballapura, and Kolar districts said they, too, were interested in attending the interview and wouldn’t mind moving if they got better pay.
Dr Narahari, a professor of paediatrics at the Nagarkurnool Medical College in Telangana, praised the Andhra Pradesh government’s move and said: “For many doctors staying around Karnataka’s border districts, this is a good opportunity. They may be interested too.”
He added: “It is not a bad move. However, how transparent the appointments will be and whether any legal cases or court cases come up needs to be seen. Personally, I welcome this move by the AP government to appoint doctors from neighbouring states.”
News paper advertisement which appeared in an English daily on it’s front page on Tuesday. October 18. The advertisement calls for walk in interviews for posts of specialists and super speciality doctors to be appointed on contractual and permanent basis in Andhra Pradesh. (South First)
While salary has been the biggest reason doctors showed interest to move, some of them also said that the pressure in Andhra Pradesh was lower and the perks that they get for doing service in tribal and rural communities was 40 percent more than the fixed salary.
For instance, if a doctor hired on contract is paid about ₹1.3 lakh per month, he or she gets 40 percent, excluding the other benefits, for working in rural and tribal settings.
“The AP government has said that salary of ₹1.3 lakh per month for specialist doctors in rural areas will be given for those appointed on a contract basis, and ₹1.6 lakh for speciality doctors posted in tribal and backward areas and ₹1.6 lakh for super speciality doctors,” said another doctor from Koppal.
“In Karnataka, it is around ₹1.3 lakh for specialist doctors on a contract basis in extreme rural areas near Ballari and Koppal, and ₹1.10 lakh for those in areas like Mangaluru or Udupi. So, the salary obviously will be one of the driving factors, and since we live in border districts, it won’t be a problem to move,” added the doctor.
Another reason to apply is also the fact that the interview process is apparently simpler and easier.
The Jagan government has done away with tedious verification processes and has announced that it will be a walk-in interview, and also that the appointment order will be issued the same day.
As may be expected, doctors from Andhra Pradesh said this would be a bad move, and advised the Karnataka doctors to refrain from applying for the posts.
Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association (APGDA) convenor Dr D Jayadheer told South First, “We have already raised objections to this kind of interviews and appointments. Concerns have been raised over appointment and interviews for doctors from other states.”
He continued: “What about our own doctors? Every year, 4,000 people complete MBBS and almost 2,000 doctors complete postgraduation in the state. Many doctors are ready to join government services if they get decent salaries, but instead of increasing the salaries the government is coming up with such lame things.”
Jayadheer also stated that the association has already demanded the scrapping of providing appointment letters on the day of the interview.
He explained, “There will not just be legal cases but even police cases in future. There is a reason why 15 days are taken to verify one’s application after the interview. Here, appointment happens on the same day the interview is done. What if the certificates are fake?”
Warning Karnataka doctors to refrain from applying, he said: “There won’t be any job security for them. This will be a temporary one, on contract, and once someone from the state government is willing to come to that post, this doctor from Karnataka will have to leave. Where is the job security?”
Instead, he suggested that the Jagan government conduct second, third, fourth, and fifth rounds of interviews for it’s own state doctors, and the state could invite doctors from other states only if it didn’t get any candidates then.
