Special leave for radiographers, workload reduction for nurses and incentives for paramedical staff

AMARAVATI, September 4: The Andhra Pradesh Government has issued a series of orders aimed at addressing long-pending service-related issues faced by contract employees in the Health and Medical Education departments.

The measures follow representations made by the Contract Employees’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) to Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav. Responding positively to their demands, the Minister directed officials to examine the issues and take appropriate action.

Following his directions, Health Department Secretary Veerapandian and Health and Family Welfare Commissioner Chakradhar Babu conducted reviews with the concerned officials. Subsequently, orders were issued providing relief to contract employees working in various healthcare institutions.

Special leave for radiographers

The government has provided a special benefit to contract radiographers and radiographic technicians who are exposed to radiation as part of their duties.

Eligible personnel working in X-ray and radiology departments of teaching hospitals will be granted 30 days of mandatory special leave after completing every 11 months of service, according to the orders.

The special leave will not be deducted from their regular leave account.

Staff deployment in PHCs

The government has also addressed the shortage of personnel and duty adjustments in Primary Health Centres (PHCs).

Officials have been instructed to utilise available staff based on local requirements. The services of Male Nursing Orderlies (MNOs) and Female Nursing Orderlies (FNOs) may be utilised during the day, while Sanitary Attendants and other support staff, as required, may be deployed during night hours.

The government has particularly emphasised using such personnel to support staff members assigned to night duties.

Steps to reduce nurses’ workload

Measures have also been introduced to reduce the burden of continuous 12-hour duties on nurses working in PHCs.

Where three nurses are posted at a PHC, duties should be adjusted through a rotation system even when one nurse is on leave. The government has directed officials to ensure that a nurse is not burdened with a continuous 12-hour duty during the daytime.

The available services of Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) should also be effectively utilised to facilitate duty adjustments, the orders stated.

Clinical training for students at PHCs

The government has also permitted DMLT and B.Sc. MLT students to undergo clinical training at PHCs.

Under the guidelines, students undertaking six- or 12-month clinical training can undergo a one-month training programme at PHCs and Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs).

District Medical and Health Officers will identify and allot training centres to eligible students.

Incentives under NTR Vaidya Seva Trust

Another significant decision relates to incentives provided through the Dr. NTR Vaidya Seva Trust (NTRVST) for surgeries and medical procedures.

The government has directed that eligible contract paramedical employees who participate in surgeries and procedures should receive a prescribed share of the incentives along with doctors, based on their respective cadres.

Staff nurses, operation theatre technicians, anaesthesia technicians, laboratory technicians, pharmacists and other eligible supporting personnel are to be included in the incentive system according to the applicable norms.

The Health and Family Welfare Commissioner has also directed that details of surgeries conducted each month, the personnel who participated and the incentive amounts payable to them should be displayed on the notice board.

The latest orders are expected to provide relief to a large number of contract healthcare employees while also improving staff utilisation and service delivery at government health facilities across the State. 

Amaravati : In a significant move aimed at enhancing transparency and expediting appointments, the Andhra Pradesh Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department has decided to entrust the Andhra Pradesh Medical Services Recruitment Board (APMSR B) with the end-to-end management of zonal-level staff recruitments, Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav announced on Wednesday.

The decision, which will come into effect for all future notifications, covers the entire recruitment cycle — from issuing notifications to finalising the selection list — for posts that were hitherto handled by the four zonal offices located at Visakhapatnam, Rajamahendravaram, Guntur, and Kadapa.

Why the Change Was Needed

Under the existing system, zonal offices independently managed recruitments for posts including Staff Nurses, Radiographers, Pharmacy Assistants, Malaria Officers, Statistical Officers, Deputy Statistical Officers, and Medical Record Technicians. The process — spanning receipt of applications, scrutiny, handling of objections, finalisation of selection lists, counselling, and posting orders — was handled entirely at the regional level.

The limitations of this arrangement came into sharp focus recently when the Rajamahendravaram zonal office issued a notification for around 310 nursing posts and received nearly 12,000 applications in response. Verifying qualifications, seniority, and other details took up to three months, with the office relying on temporary data entry operators and senior assistants to manage the workload. Each zonal office operates with an average staff strength of only about 15 personnel, from record assistants to superintendents.

The Minister said the centralisation of this process would relieve considerable administrative pressure on zonal offices, freeing their staff to focus on employee promotions, service matters, and other governance responsibilities.

Recruitment Board's Track Record

The APMSR B already handles State-level appointments, including Medical Officers, Assistant Professors, Psychiatrists, and other specialised posts, based on indents received from the Directorates of Medical Education, Public Health, Secondary Health, and AYUSH. Counselling and posting orders, however, continue to be issued by the respective Heads of Department.

The Board's established processes were recently applied to the appointment of 482 doctors under the Directorate of Public Health, and the same framework will now be extended to zonal-level posts.

Since June 2024, the APMSR B has completed 2,310 recruitments up to March 31, 2026. The Minister also announced that the Board would shortly take up the filling of 317 Assistant Professor posts in teaching hospitals.

Mr. Satya Kumar Yadav said the new arrangement, combined with the State government's ongoing commitment to zero-vacancy recruitment, would ensure that appointments are completed more swiftly and with greater accountability.