Telangana High Court Issues Notices on Medical Staff Vacancies
Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court’s division bench, led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Jukanti Anil Kumar, sent notices to top state officials on Monday. They asked the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Medical and Health), Director of Medical Education (DME), and the Director of Public Health to respond within four weeks.
The court’s decision comes from a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by K Akhil Sri Guru Teja, president of the NGO Help the People Charitable Trust. The petitioner is upset with the government’s failure to fill medical and paramedical staff positions and improve hospital infrastructure across the state.
The petitioner argued that the lack of doctors, nurses, and infrastructure in hospitals leads to delays in providing quality medical aid to poor and economically backward patients.
Chikkudu Prabhakar, the petitioner’s counsel, highlighted the deficiencies in government hospitals. For example, Koti hospital lacks a centralized communication system for bed availability and has only 350 beds with no ICU or NICU. The Area hospital at Manuguru has only six doctors out of the 27 sanctioned positions.
The court has given the officials four weeks to respond to these issues.
HMDA Commissioner Summoned for Non-Compliance
The division bench also expressed concern over officials not following its orders. The court directed the HMDA commissioner to appear via video conference and explain why previous court orders were ignored. The hearing is set for July 24.
The bench noted that orders issued on July 27 and August 11, 2023, directed the Lake Protection Committee to notify buffer zones for lakes, water bodies, and wetlands within HMDA limits. However, the committee had not complied with these orders.
The PIL was filed by the Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust. The petitioner’s counsel informed the court that encroachments and constructions in lake buffer zones continued despite court orders. Photographs were provided as evidence.
The hearing will resume on July 24.
