The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association, which won all 13 elected seats, said the order pushes elected doctors into a minority position.
Published Jan 04, 2026 | 11:53 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 04, 2026 | 12:46 PM
Representational image. Credit: iStock
Synopsis: In September 2025, Telangana Medical Council suspended five doctors for misconduct and quackery ties amid a strong anti-quackery drive. Three months later, the government added four ex-officio members via G.O.Ms.No.229, making elected doctors a minority and sparking protests from associations fearing bureaucratic control and weakened enforcement against unqualified practitioners.
The Telangana Medical Council suspended five doctors in September 2025 for practising beyond their qualifications and collaborating with unqualified practitioners.
Dr Kannaiah Thallapally of Livyoung Clinic in Jubilee Hills received a one-year suspension. The council found he performed plastic surgery procedures with only an MBBS degree.
“Dr Kannaiah is only an MBBS doctor, but he has been posing as a plastic surgeon or dermatologist and conducting procedures in dermatology and plastic surgery,” a council member said.
Dr K Uma Maheshwar of Padmavathi Neuro & Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sangareddy received a six-month suspension for displaying unrecognised qualifications and misrepresenting himself as a neurosurgeon.
Meanwhile, three hospital medical directors received six-month suspensions for collaborating with the Rural Medical Practitioners association. Dr A Chaitanya Reddy of OXYCARE Hospital, Dr M Goutham Reddy of OMNI Hospital, and Dr KV Mallikarjuna Rao of EVYA Hospitals all worked with what the council called an “association of unqualified people.”
“As per medical ethics, this is absolutely wrong. A qualified doctor cannot collaborate with a non-qualified person to attract patients,” the council member said. “Outside, such associations are promoting commissions to divert patients, and all these things have been happening.”
These actions against unqualified practitioners and doctors practising beyond their qualifications demonstrated the Telangana Medical Council’s approach towards weeding out threats to public health and patient safety. However, the discourse might change.
Three months later, the state government issued an order that doctors say threatens to undo this kind of enforcement work.
On 22 December 2025, three months after the suspensions, Telangana Health Secretary issued G.O.Ms.No.229. The order added four more ex-officio members to the council. The state had already nominated four ex-officio members. The new order brings the total to eight.
The four new ex-officio members include the Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare, Secretary to the Health Department, NIMS Director, and CEO Arogyasri. Three of these positions do not require medical qualifications. Most of these positions are held by IAS officers.
However, the main constraint lies with the order increasing the council’s total strength from 25 to 29 members. The council now has 13 elected representatives and 16 government nominees.
This means the 13 doctors who won elections in November 2023 now find themselves in a minority within their own regulatory body.
The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association, which won all 13 elected seats, said the order pushes elected doctors into a minority position.
“By virtue of this G.O., the Government has raised the Council’s strength from 25 to 29 members, artificially altering its composition and effectively pushing the elected representatives of the medical profession into a minority,” the HRDA stated on 3 January 2026.
Dr K Mahesh Kumar chairs the council and Dr G Srinivas serves as vice-chairman.
Three medical associations condemned the order within two weeks of its issue. Their concern centres on whether non-medical bureaucrats can regulate medical practice and enforce professional standards.
The HRDA called it a “backdoor takeover of a statutory regulatory body” that “grossly violates the spirit and intent of the Telangana Medical Practitioners Registration Act, 1968.”
“Most alarmingly, G.O.Ms.No.229 opens the door for non-medical persons and bureaucrats, including IAS officers, to become members of the Telangana Medical Council,” the HRDA stated. “How can non-doctors adjudicate professional misconduct, influence disciplinary proceedings, or determine the course of anti-quackery enforcement?”
The Telangana Junior Doctors Association called the order “anti-doctor, anti-regulatory, and detrimental to public health.” The association said it would pursue “democratic protests and lawful collective action” if the government does not withdraw the order.
The Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association said the order “compromises the self-regulation, ethics, and professional autonomy of medical practitioners.”
The associations point to the timing of G.O. 229 as evidence of its intent. The order came after the elected council launched its most aggressive enforcement campaign against unqualified practitioners in the state’s history.
“After observing recent developments of targeting Telangana Medical Council and speaking of committed to training quacks, it is clear that the government of Telangana has taken a stance of supporting quacks rather than registered and qualified doctors,” a doctor said.
“Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association (TTGDA) strongly condemns the issuance of GO Ms. No. 229, which provides for an increase of four non-doctor members in the Medical Council. TTGDA states that there is no clear rationale or justification for this move. Such an increase dilutes the representation and decision-making authority of doctors within the Council, whose primary role is to regulate medical education and professional standards,” said Dr Kiran Madhala, TTGDA secretary general.
“The Association cautions that weakening doctors’ representation will adversely affect the effective functioning of the Medical Council, ultimately leading to reduced professional oversight, compromised autonomy, and diminished self-regulation of the medical profession. TTGDA firmly believes that medical councils must remain predominantly doctor-led, as professional regulation is best ensured by those with domain expertise and accountability to patient care and medical ethics,” he added.
The elected council formed an Anti-Quackery Committee after taking office in November 2023. This committee drove the enforcement actions that doctors believe prompted the government order.
Since the elected members took office, more than 400 FIRs have been registered against unqualified practitioners based on council complaints. Most of these FIRs rely on Section 34 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which prohibits anyone not enrolled in the State Register or National Register from practising medicine. Violations carry a one-year jail term and a five-lakh-rupee fine.
The council did not spare large institutions. It summoned Continental Hospitals in February 2024 for conducting a cancer awareness programme that included registered medical practitioners. The council called it “most unethical situation and unpardonable condition.”
“This was the second time you are encouraging the quackery with ulterior motives that are detrimental to society,” the council wrote to the hospital’s medical superintendent and managing director.
The council said it suspected hospitals used such events to get RMPs to refer patients for commissions.
This enforcement campaign targeted a problem that has shaped medical practice in rural Telangana for years.
There is a resident surgeon at a government Area Hospital in a rural area. She encounters patients who demand injections for all ailments.
“When a patient visits the hospital, I prescribe medicines after examining them. However, they won’t be satisfied, but insist on getting an injection,” she told South First.
She traced the demand to unqualified practitioners in villages who administer injections for most conditions.
“You come across regular sepsis at injection sites, and antimicrobial resistance in patients. Still, they want the injection,” she said.
The council stated that unqualified practitioners prescribe high-end antibiotics and second and third-line drugs for minor ailments.
According to the council, 75 to 80 percent of emergency care in rural Telangana comes from unqualified individuals operating as registered medical practitioners or private medical practitioners.
“There are instances where fraudulent medical practitioners demand large sums of money from clinics in exchange for referrals, or they employ threats,” the council stated. “They may also seek sponsorship from hospitals, resorting to spreading false information if not accommodated.”
This widespread practice of quackery creates a political problem for the government. The unqualified practitioners serve rural voters who lack access to qualified doctors. Cracking down on them risks alienating this voter base.
During a Legislative Council session in January 2026, Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha faced pressure to provide training and certification to RMPs and PMPs.
The minister stated the government is “duty-bound to comply” with court orders preventing such training. He added that the government would examine “what is permissible within the existing framework.”
Doctors believe G.O.Ms.No.229 represents the government’s attempt to control the council and halt the anti-quackery drive.
“You want to make quacks legal in three months just for a vote-bank?” a doctor asked during an online protest. “If you are so fond of three-month courses, stop the five-year MBBS course and give a three months certificate to everyone.”
The conflict over council composition stretches back to 2014. After Telangana’s formation, the government reduced elected seats from 13 to five. This reduction sparked the legal fight that eventually brought Dr Mahesh Kumar and the HRDA to power.
The HRDA formed in April 2017 to combat quackery and restore the elected council. Dr Mahesh Kumar and other former members of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association established the organisation.
“There were already prominent organisations representing the medical community but a major challenge doctors faced, particularly in Telangana, is the prevalence of quackery,” HRDA had said in 2019. “Despite numerous attempts to file complaints with relevant bodies, the response has been discouraging.”
The HRDA filed more than 1,000 complaints against quackery with the council. No action followed.
“We didn’t know the reason why no action was taken. But gradually, we realised that the TSMC(now TGMC) comprised only government officials and there were no elected members,” HRDA member said in 2022.
This realisation led to legal action. In 2019, the HRDA filed a writ petition in the Telangana High Court demanding elections.
On 6 December 2022, the High Court ruled in favour of the doctors. The court struck down the reduction of elected seats and ordered the government to restore 13 elected members.
The court noted that the government’s actions turned elected members into a “minority block,” which contradicted the spirit of the Medical Practitioners Registration Act.
The state government appealed to the Supreme Court. On 16 May 2023, the Supreme Court refused to stay the High Court order and directed the state to conduct elections within three months.
Elections ran from 13 September to 22 December 2023 through postal ballots. Out of 50,000 registered doctors in the state, 45 percent voted. The HRDA won all 13 seats.
“We convinced the doctors that there would be 12 government-nominated members and 13 elected members. We wanted all our members in the TSMC(now TGMC) so that our work would not be hindered,” HRDA had said after winning the election.
“TSMC is a regulatory body, established under the state laws to regulate the medical profession and redress complaints related to misconduct by medical practitioners,” said a resident doctor. “But, the previous TSMC lacked all these and the HRDA fought for it.”
The elected council then delivered on its manifesto promises. It formed the Anti-Quackery Committee, pursued enforcement actions against unqualified practitioners and qualified doctors practising beyond their scope, and summoned major hospitals. These actions brought the council into an alleged conflict with the government.
All medical associations in the state now demand immediate withdrawal of G.O.Ms.No.229.
The HRDA stated: “Public health cannot be sacrificed at the altar of bureaucratic control.”
The Telangana Junior Doctors Association said it would pursue “all available legal and constitutional remedies” if the order stands. Meanwhile, Telangana Senior Resident Doctors Association stated: “Any attempt to weaken the Medical Council will be strongly resisted.”
(Edited by Amit Vasudev)
