VIJAYAWADA: In good news for contract healthcare employees, the State government has issued key administrative orders addressing long-pending service grievances, granting mandatory radiation safety leave, shift workload relief, and a share in surgical incentives across medical facilities.
Following directives from Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav in response to representations submitted by the Contract Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC), Health Secretary G Veerapandian and Health and Family Welfare Commissioner KVN Chakradhar Babu conducted detailed operational reviews and dispatched binding guidelines to government teaching hospitals, PHCs, and Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs).
Under the official directives, contract radiographers and radiography technicians working in X-ray and radiology departments across government teaching hospitals will receive 30 days of mandatory paid special leave upon completing every 11 months of continuous service.
Recognising the health hazards of prolonged radiation exposure, the order explicitly specifies that this mandatory safety break must be granted separately without deducting from standard regular leave balances. This safety measure offers significant welfare relief to frontline radiology personnel who manage diagnostic loads in major tertiary care centres across the State.
To eliminate physical burnout among staff nurses caused by continuous 12-hour shifts in Primary Health Centres, facility administrators have been instructed to manage attendance through structured duty rotations.
When nurses take leave in three-nurse PHC setups, local Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) will be utilised to balance daytime coverage. Simultaneously, Male and Female Nursing Orderlies (MNOs/FNOs) will manage daytime operational support, while Sanitation Workers (SAWs) will assist night-shift teams as needed to maintain smooth emergency care and outpatient services.
Contract paramedical personnel—including staff nurses, Operation Theatre (OT) technicians, anaesthesia technicians, laboratory technicians, and pharmacists—participating in surgical procedures will now receive their designated cadre-based share of surgical incentives under the NTR Vaidya Seva Trust (NTRVST).
Chakradhara Babu instructed that monthly lists of surgeries performed, participating contract staff, and disbursed incentive payouts must be displayed on notice boards.
Additionally, Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology (DMLT) and B.Sc (MLT) students will complete a one-month clinical training module at PHCs and UPHCs, with training allocations managed directly by District Medical and Health Officers (DMHOs).
