AP Govt bans private practice of its doctors

Visakhapatnam : Andhra Pradesh government has decided to ban the private practice of its doctors. Instead, government doctors will get a pay hike to compensate for their financial loss. Chief Minister

Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy accepted the recommendations of the Sujatha Rao committee on Wednesday, which suggested that the private practice of government doctors be banned.

Jagan's government has formed an expert committee headed by retired IAS officer Sujatha Rao and asked it to submit a detailed report for the improvement of the public health sector. Chief Minister, in

principle, agreed to most of the recommendations of the committee in a review meeting with the Medical and Health Department on Wednesday.

This state government’s decision is very vital as it is going to eradicate an age-old practice of government doctors. It is alleged that government physicians focus more on their private practice, taking huge salaries from the exchequer. There are instances in which doctors have advised patients to attend their clinics so that they (patients) would get better treatment.

Another important recommendation of the committee is that Arogyasri be implemented in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore. Hundreds of employees still commute from Hyderabad even five years after the AP bifurcation. Their families stay in Hyderabad, and it has become a problem to avail the Employees Health Scheme (Arogyasri). Jagan has promised that Arogyasri will be implemented in Hyderabad, adding Chennai and Bangalore also as it will be beneficial to the employees living in the bordering districts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.