Published Mar 24, 2026 | 10:07 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 24, 2026 | 12:08 PM
Synopsis: The data tabled recently in the Telangana Legislative Council stated that around one in three sanctioned government doctor posts in the state sit vacant. The data shows that 9,008 doctors work across Telangana’s public health system against 14,633 sanctioned posts. That leaves 5,625 posts vacant.
One in three sanctioned government doctor posts in Telangana sits vacant, according to data tabled in the state Legislative Council. Even after the government completes all ongoing recruitments, 3,215 doctor posts out of 14,633 sanctioned will remain empty, with no recruitment process attached to them.
This comes as Health Minister Damodar Rajanarsimha told the council that “all necessary posts, including doctors and nursing officers, are being filled in government hospitals.”
The data, published in the Telangana Legislative Council on 23 March, shows that 9,008 doctors work across Telangana’s public health system against 14,633 sanctioned posts. That leaves 5,625 posts vacant.
Recruitments currently in progress cover 2,410 of those posts. The remaining 3,215, 22 percent of the total sanctioned strength, carry no active hiring process.
The minister told the council that “around 10,000 posts have been filled over the past two years” and that “recruitment for over 7,000 more posts is in the final stage.” The data records 7,170 posts under recruitment across all cadres, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff combined, broadly consistent with his figure.
However, the minister did not state that even after these recruitments conclude, 6,759 net vacancies will remain across the entire system.
The worst unresolved shortfall sits in tertiary health, the teaching hospitals and medical colleges that operate under the Director of Medical Education. These institutions carry 7,745 sanctioned doctor posts, more than half of all sanctioned doctor posts in the state.
Only 4,959 doctors work here today, leaving 2,786 posts vacant. Recruitments in progress cover just 607, leaving 2,179 posts with no hiring process underway.
The minister attributed this to rapid expansion. “A large number of medical colleges have been established in the state at once, leading to a shortage of doctors,” he told the council.
He added that “as per National Medical Commission norms, there is a shortage of qualified doctors eligible for associate professor and professor posts, making recruitment to these positions difficult.”
To bridge the gap, the government “filled 1,200 teaching posts in medical colleges on a contract basis and issued a notification to fill 607 assistant professor posts regularly, with the process expected to be completed by April.”
The LCQ data confirms exactly 607 recruitments in progress under this category. But those 607 posts represent only 22 percent of the 2,786 vacancies in teaching hospitals. The remaining 2,179 posts, the majority of the gap in the institutions that both treat patients and train future doctors, have no active recruitment plan on record.
If teaching hospitals carry the largest unresolved gap, district-level hospitals under Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad carry the most acute current crisis.
TVVP secondary hospitals operate at just 45 percent of sanctioned doctor strength today, the worst fill rate of any category in the state. Of 4,347 sanctioned posts, only 1,968 doctors work, leaving 2,379 posts vacant.
The minister told the council that “recruitment for 1,616 specialist doctor posts in TVVP hospitals is underway and will be completed within a month.”
The LCQ data records 1,658 recruitments in progress under this category — a difference of 42 posts. If the minister’s timeline holds, net vacancies in TVVP will come down to 721. But that still leaves roughly one in six sanctioned posts in district hospitals unfilled after recruitment concludes.
Only one category in the entire system reaches zero net vacancies after recruitment: Primary health under the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, where 145 vacancies have 145 recruitments in progress.
Every other category carries unresolved gaps. Primary health under the Director of Public Health stands out; 315 doctor posts sit vacant there, and the LCQ data records zero recruitments in progress for this category. The minister made no mention of this directorate in his statement to the council.
Across all cadres, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, ongoing recruitments cover 7,170 of the 13,929 total vacancies. That is 43 percent of the gap.
The minister said “efforts are being made to fill nearly all categories of posts” and that “the government’s goal is to provide better medical services to the poor through government hospitals.” The data shows that the remaining 57 percent, 6,759 posts across the system, have no recruitment process attached to them.
On nursing, the minister said more than 7,000 nursing officer posts have already been filled and that “the recruitment process for another 2,312 posts will be completed in April.”
The LCQ data records 2,258 nursing recruitments in progress, a difference of 54 posts from the minister’s figure. Regarding the vacancies of lab technicians, the minister said, “Over 1,500 posts have been filled in the last two years”. However, this figure does not appear in the data and cannot be cross-checked from the tabled response.
The data tabled in the council points to a system where one working doctor covers the load of nearly 1.6 sanctioned posts. In TVVP district hospitals, that ratio is worse; one doctor covers more than two sanctioned posts.
The minister’s goal of “better medical services to the poor” rests on filling a gap that, by the government’s own tabled figures, current recruitment will only partly address, and for which no plan exists for the remaining majority.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
