Telangana’s secondary-care health network is facing administrative uncertainty after the Directorate of Secondary Health has operated without a full-time commissioner for more than three months, according to the Telangana Government Doctors Association and a report by the Times of India. The vacancy affects about 184 district, area and community health centres across the state.
The directorate supervises district hospitals, area hospitals and community health centres, making it responsible for administrative oversight across a large part of Telangana’s public secondary-care system. Doctors and staff cited in the report said the absence of a permanent head had weakened routine monitoring and delayed the resolution of service and personnel matters.
The Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad was restructured as the Directorate of Secondary Health in June following implementation of the TVVP Repeal Act. The government also delegated financial powers to the new directorate through Government Order 72. However, the Telangana Government Doctors Association said the directorate’s complete administrative framework had not yet been put in place.
A senior association member said the leadership gap had affected monitoring of doctors’ attendance and contributed to delays involving laboratory services, medicines and consumables. The member also cited pending staff promotions and unresolved service-related grievances. The association has called for the government to complete the directorate’s administrative structure and appoint either a full-time director or an in-charge head of department.
The association said a permanent or designated head was needed to clear routine files and address concerns raised by doctors working in secondary-care hospitals. Its demands cover both operational and administrative issues, linking the leadership vacancy to the functioning of facilities that serve patients outside the state’s largest tertiary hospitals.
The reported delays also follow a period of institutional transition. The change from TVVP to the Directorate of Secondary Health requires the new name and administrative responsibilities to be reflected consistently across government records, websites, official orders and administrative systems. The association said the lack of uniformity could create confusion while the restructured directorate is being established.
The staffing and service concerns remain pending with the state government, according to the report. The Telangana Government Doctors Association has urged the government to complete the administrative setup and make an appointment so that routine files, service matters and oversight functions can be processed under a clearly designated authority.