Doctors’ body seeks waiting lists in Telangana medical recruitments as vacancies remain unfilled despite available candidates

The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) urged the Telangana government to introduce category-wise waiting lists in ongoing medical recruitments, flagging that the absence of such a system is leaving several sanctioned posts unfilled despite the availability of eligible candidates.

In a representation submitted to Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha on Saturday (April 4), the association pointed to two major recruitments currently under way — Assistant Professor posts under the Director of Medical Education (607 posts) and Civil Assistant Surgeon Specialists under the Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (1,623 posts) — where existing rules do not permit waiting lists.

As per current provisions under G.O.Ms. No.81 dated February 22, 1997, unfilled vacancies arising from non-joining or dropouts are carried forward to the next recruitment cycle rather than being filled immediately. This leads to a situation where even when eligible candidates are available, vacancies remain unoccupied once the main selection list is exhausted. This affects both medical education and patient care, particularly in a system already facing staff shortages, said Karthik Nagula, president, HRDA.

The representation also highlighted operational challenges caused by the absence of waiting lists. These include vacancies remaining unfilled when selected candidates fail to attend counselling, decline postings, or withdraw after selection. In some cases, repeated carry-forward of vacancies leads to backlog accumulation, while peripheral hospitals continue to face shortages of specialists.

The association has proposed that category-wise waiting lists be prepared for both DME and TVVP recruitments and be activated in cases where selected candidates do not join, do not opt for available posts, or withdraw.