‘TGMC Autonomy Undermined’: Doctors protest Telangana bid to pack medical council with bureaucrats

Telangana government officials, on Wednesday, will meet representatives of resident doctors who have been up in arms against a recent government order (GO) that seeks to increase the proportion of non-elected members in the Telangana Medical Council (TGMC).

The invitation came after junior doctors at medical colleges across the state showed up for work wearing black bands to express their disapproval of what they see as an attempt by the state to exert control over the council.

The protest is backed by various doctors' groups in the state, including the Indian Medical Association, Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA), Telangana Senior Residents Doctors Association (T-SRDA), and Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association (TTGDA).

The contentious decision (GOMs No 229), issued on December 22, includes four new ex-officio members – commissioner of health and family welfare, an official from the state's department of health, medical and family welfare, chief executive officer (CEO) of Arogyasri Healthcare Trust and director of the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad – in TGMC. Together with four existing ex officio and eight nominated doctors, the strength of government appointees has now exceeded the 13 members elected by the state's registered medical practitioners.

TGMC order undermines autonomy, say doctors

Much like other state medical councils, TGMC's primary function is to register the practitioners of modern medicine and establish professional standards for medical practice.

The move, according to the resident doctors, undermines the TGMC's autonomy and paves the way for excessive executive control. They also point out that the decision also allows the entry of non-medical professionals into the council, as the new ex officio positions are held by the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, who are not required to be doctors. They also contend that the order is a violation of the Telangana Medical Practitioners Registration Act 1968, which provides the current composition of the body.

"By increasing the Council's strength from 25 to 29 members, the GO dilutes the representation of elected doctors, effectively weakening the democratic voice of the medical fraternity within its own regulatory body," T-JUDA said in a statement.

"How can non-medical individuals adjudicate clinical misconduct, influence disciplinary proceedings or direct anti-quackery action." the resident doctors sought to know.

TGMC: Telangana govt Vs doctors

The composition and formation of TGMC have been a subject of dispute between doctors and the state government ever since Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as a separate state in 2014. While adapting the Andhra Pradesh Telangana Medical Practitioners Registration Act, 1968, for the newly formed state, the Telangana government, in 2015, reduced the number of elected members from seven to five, while maintaining the combined strength of seven government nominees. A year later, it formed an 'interim' council consisting only of nominated members, putting off the elections.

In 2019, HRDA challenged the two decisions in the Telangana High Court. The petitioners argued that GO that reduced the count of electeds is a mere executive order and hence it can’t supersede the law without state legislature’s approval. The government, however, countered that the move was necessitated due to lower population and doctor count of the bifurcated state.

In December 2022, HC struck down the GO reducing the proportion of elected members and declared the interim body to be legally 'untenable'. The state was asked to conduct the elections for TGMC within three months. A challenge to the order by the government in the Supreme Court (SC) failed in 2023. The polls were eventually conducted the same year.