The Government Doctors’ Association (GDA) in Andhra Pradesh, in a letter addressed to Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Satya Kumar Yadav last week, sought a democratic process in the appointment of the Director of Medical Education (DME) and ensure that the order of seniority was followed.

The letter came after G. Raghunandan, the current in-charge DME, reportedly requested the government to reIieve him of duties.

While this correspondent could not speak to Dr. Raghunandan, sources close to him alleged there had been a rift between the in-charge DME and other officials in the Health Department. The official had since then been on leave, and was likely to resume duty next week.

As of May 16, Dr. Raghunandan had not officially put in his papers, but the government was said to have begun looking at other eligible candidates. The association had to write the letter as names of those who were not eligible for the DME post started doing the rounds.

Rules state that candidate should have completed two years of service as ADME and should be left with one year of service to be eligible to be promoted as the DME.

In the letter, the association pointed out that there were more than four candidates who meet the requirements for the panel year 2026-27 and willing to take up the responsibilities.

The association also pointed out that the State did not see a regular DME in the past 10 years. Between 2019 and 2025, there were more than 30 eligible candidates, but only two were elevated to the regular DME rank, said D. Jayadheer Babu, president of the A.P. Government Doctors’ Association. The remaining were only in-charge DMEs.

Pointing out that Dr. Raghunandan’s post, too, was not yet regularised, the association said it would welcome the government’s decision if it decided to appoint Dr. Raghunandan as the regular DME. “But, if the government is looking at other eligible candidates, then it should follow the order of seniority,” the association members said, while speaking to this correspondent.

“It’s not that seniority is overlooked always. Sometimes, the government may choose a candidate who, it thinks, has the potential, can meet the requirements, is willing to take up administrative responsibilities and rise to the occasion,” says a government official.

“But, the government is disappointed since no one seems to be interested,” the official added.

Dr. Jayadheer pointed out that the post comes with administrative reponsibilities and none of the candidates, all from medical backgrounds, had received any training on handling these. If the eligible candidates were trained, there would not be such issues, he said.