Vijayawada: In a significant move to enhance administrative efficiency and address long-standing issues, the Ministry of Health, Family Welfare & Medical Education in the state has initiated a large scale general transfer process. Under this, more than 15,000 doctors, supporting medical and administrative staff are expected to be reassigned to new workstations.

After a two-year hiatus, orders for these transfers were issued, with the process commencing on Sunday and slated for completion within 20 days. This round of transfers has generated considerable interest and some apprehension among employees due to the specific guidelines released. The last general transfers in the Health Ministry were conducted in 2023.

A special set of transfer guidelines, tailored for the unique functional requirements of the Health Ministry, was issued. These guidelines were drawn upon the broader directives from the Finance department on May 15, which lifted the general ban on transfers. According to the guidelines issued, administrative staff who have completed more than three years at their current location will be compulsorily transferred. This measure is being implemented for the first time to address complaints of irregularities stemming from prolonged postings. Further, union office-bearers with three to nine years of service at their present locations will be moved to other administrative units within the same station if vacancies are available, or to other stations if not. All other employees who have served for more than five years at a station will be mandatorily transferred. However, ADME rank doctors and professors will be transferred based on administrative requirements.

Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav held extensive discussions with the Special Chief Secretary and heads of all departments before submitting these special guidelines for the Chief Minister's approval. Subsequently, the special guidelines, alongside the general advisory from the Finance department, were released.

The Health Ministry is expected to issue a special memo providing specific guidance on the offices covered under this transfer round, particularly concerning administrative staff who have completed three years of service. This aims at preventing misinterpretations of the special guidelines by various authorities, officials say.

Since the lifting of the general transfer ban on May 15, the Health Minister has approved 30 pending transfer requests that were previously permitted on compassionate grounds, such as bringing together spouses working in different locations or facilitating treatment for serious ailments unavailable at current workstations.

According to officials, the overarching objective behind these large-scale transfers is to both address employee demands and curb corruption within the health sector.