HYDERABAD: Doctors working as teaching faculty in colleges located in remote areas in the state have renewed their long-pending demand for a special allowance.
Referring to the 167th report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, which was recently tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the doctors pointed out that the panel underscored the need for special incentives to attract and retain faculty in distant locations. These include housing support, educational facilities for children and a rural service allowance.
The teaching doctors said such an allowance is crucial to motivate faculty members to take up and continue postings in remote and underserved regions.
Dr Kiran Madhala, secretary general of the Telangana Teaching Government Doctors’ Association (TGGDA), told TNIE that there are 32 medical colleges located outside the GHMC limits, where faculty members face a pay disparity of Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 compared to those working within GHMC areas.
“This gap is expected to widen to nearly Rs 60,000 under the 8th Pay Revision Commission. Both the National Task Force of the National Medical Commission and the Parliamentary Standing Committee have recommended the implementation of AIIMS pay scales along with a rural service allowance for faculty serving in non-GHMC, rural and semi-urban areas,” he said, adding that almost every state in the country provides some form of allowance to retain teaching doctors, barring Telangana.
Teaching doctors expressed disappointment over the lack of response despite several representations made to the Health Department — from the previous government to the present one — saying the continued neglect has demotivated faculty from accepting postings in rural and remote areas.
Dr Kiran further said government teaching doctors should be recognised as a special category, as their responsibilities extend beyond teaching to include clinical care and research.
“Academic medicine demands a high level of dedication, continuous learning and multitasking, and it must be adequately supported and incentivised to sustain quality medical education and patient care in the state,” he said.