The Telangana State (TS) government has expressed its willingness to accept all demands of striking junior doctors association (JUDA) except compulsory rural service.  To this effect, Deputy Chief Minister of TS and Medical and health minister Dr. T. Rajaiah had asked the JUDA to withdraw the strike and cooperate with the state government.

“Our Chief Minister K.Chandrashekhara Rao has agreed to all the demands of the junior doctors. But the demand to scrap the compulsory rural service cannot be implemented because it has been made into a law by the previous government in the year 2010. Scrapping a law needs the consent of all parties and it has to be done by the legislative assembly. If all parties agrees to scrap this law, then we are ready to take this up in the assembly,” said the Minister.

Earlier in the year 2010, the then state government had passed an order G.O. no 40, 41, 43 and G.O. no. 165 according to which all the doctors need to take a pledge to serve in the rural areas for at least one year.

Till now the state government has already conducted talks with JUDA on two accounts. So far, among the important 5 demands, the government has accepted to implement 4 demands and expressed its inability to meet the demand of scrapping the norm of compulsory rural service. The four demands which are accepted by the government include, regularly payment of salaries, junior doctors will get pay scale equivalent to that of civil assistant surgeons, special protection force to doctors in government hospitals, and filling up of regular vacancies apart from upgrading facilities in the hospitals.

But, as the doctors are pressing the government to give assurance on scrapping the compulsory rural service by doctors, the talks have been stalled. The health minister has appealed to the doctors to come to talks and co-operate with the state government. “We are a newly formed government. We acknowledge the contributions of doctors and employees in the formation of Telangana. As we are still in the bifurcation mode and as the government is only 4 months old there are lot of things that has to be streamlined. We are yet to ascertain the number of doctor vacant posts in Telangana. Therefore we appeal to the doctors to cooperate and help the government in the reconstruction of Telangana,” said the health minister.