New T health varsity caught in caste row

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government's appointment of Dr T Venkateshwar Rao as registrar of the new Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Services (KNRUH) has turned into a major caste row, with the medical fraternity, including former health minister Dr T Rajaiah, voicing their opposition to the move.
Known to hail from the now politically dominant Velama community, Dr Venkateshwar Rao, head of the orthopaedics department in Kakatiya Medical College, was appointed as KNRUH's registrar for a period of one year through a government order (G.O No 61) issued by health secretary Suresh Chanda on Thursday.
What's sparked the caste debate was the fact that in January , the Telangana government abruptly cancelled the appointment of Dr B Raju, professor of general surgery , Osmania Medical College, seven days after Chanda issued an GO 8 dated January 13 appointing him as registrar of KNRUH. Raju hails from the dalit community .
"I fail to understand what's wrong with Dr B Raju as registrar of KNRUH. When I supported his candidature, it was not because he was a dalit but on the basis of the leadership qualities he displayed when protecting the rights of Telangana medicos and MBBS aspirants before NTR health varsity's counselling camps in 2014," said Dr T Rajaiah."This is a clear case of caste discrimination," he added.
Rajaiah expressed surprise over the appointment of Dr Venkateshwar Rao, who is perceived to be close to the first political family. He said when the order appointing Raju was kept in abeyance, the government had cited a different reason. " A rumour was deliberately circulated then that the government had to cancel my choice as it wanted an IAS officer to head KNRUH," Rajaiah told TOI.
The medical fraternity too has expressed dissent on various grounds. "Several Telangana doctors were active during the statehood struggle, but we never saw the new registrar take part in agitations.He does not fit the NTR varsity eligibility rules as well. It requires five years of professorship to become a registrar, which he does not have," alleged Dr Y Sridhar, president, IMA Warangal chapter.
However, Venkateshwar Rao refuted all allegations. "I am fully qualified to become the registrar of KNURH. In fact, my name was shortlisted for the post long ago," he said, while asserting that his caste was never the sole criterion for his appointment. He also played down the criticism that one had to be in the limelight during the statehood struggle to bag the registrar's post.