Year Ender/Telangana health sector in 2025: Reforms advance, but delays and disruptions persist

The year 2025 has emerged as a challenging but transitional phase for the Health department; It attracted attention with repeated cuts, legislative deficiencies and delayed infrastructure projects, as well as increasing reforms, budget support and recruitment gains. While the government initiated many long-pending measures, the year also revealed the ongoing gap between policy intent and implementation.

The year began with unrest among MBBS students at Government Medical College, Asifabad, protesting against faculty shortage. Their agitation highlighted concerns over academic standards, quality of education and patient care at newly established public medical colleges, many of which continue to struggle with staffing and infrastructure constraints.

Soon after, the state’s flagship Aarogyasri health insurance scheme faced a major disruption, with the Telangana Aarogyasri Network Hospitals Association (TANHA) announcing a temporary halt to admissions, citing unpaid dues exceeding ₹ 1,100 crore. The 10-day outage affected access to care for thousands of beneficiaries before services were resumed following assurances from Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha on phased payments.

Regulatory oversight has come under scrutiny after an illegal kidney transplant racket at Alakananda Hospital in Saroornagar came to light. Investigations revealed that the private hospital performed the transfer without mandatory authorization; This has raised concerns about monitoring mechanisms and enforcement of organ transplant laws in the state.

In the midst of these developments, the government, Dr. It made a significant administrative move by appointing A. Narendra Kumar as Telangana’s first full-time Director of Medical Education (DME) since its formation in 2014. The post had remained under additional pay for more than a decade.

However, delays continued to occur in infrastructure projects. In January, the foundation stone of the new Osmania General Hospital (OGH) building in Goshamahal was laid upon the long-awaited request of doctors working in the dilapidated historical structure. It was announced that the hospital will be built at a cost of ₹ 2,700 crore with an initial completion time of two years. However, construction only started in October, and the executing agency later pushed the timelines further by announcing that the project would take 30 months.

Similarly, the 1,000-bed Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) in Sanathnagar, which was expected to open this year, did not open despite many suggested dates.

On the policy front, the State budget for 2025-26 has allocated ₹12,393 crore for the health department; this was up ₹925 crore or 8% from the previous year. In March, the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Telangana Human Organ Transplantation Bill (2025), which aims to align State regulations with the Central Act and strengthen safeguards against illegal organ trade.

Public health indicators revealed a mixed picture. Data from the Special Bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2019-21 showed Telangana’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) was 45 deaths per 100,000 live births; this was a marginal increase from 43 in the previous period. Although the increase contrasted with the national decline, Telangana continued to be among the better-performing States in maternal health outcomes.

In June, hospital management came under renewed scrutiny following a food poisoning incident at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Erragadda, which resulted in the death and illness of one in about 70 patients. The Department of Health suspended the responsible Resident Medical Officer (RMO) and suspended the food supplier’s contract.

The same month, the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued show-cause notices to 26 government medical colleges for deficiencies in infrastructure, clinical materials and faculty. After a report HinduChief Minister A. Revanth Reddy instructed officials to prepare a comprehensive action plan for all 34 medical colleges in the state.

Unrest among MBBS trainees in private medical colleges over non-payment of salaries has also led to the government launching a state-wide vigil. By September, the year came full circle with TANHA hospitals once again announcing the suspension of Aarogyasri services, citing debts approaching ₹ 1,400 crore.

Despite these challenges, recruiting remained a bright spot. More than 11,000 positions have been filled in the Ministry of Health in the last two years, and recruitment is ongoing for more than 5,000 positions.

As the year 2025 draws to a close, Telangana’s healthcare sector stands at a crossroads, with momentum shaped by the need for staffing and timely implementation of policy reforms.

It was published – 26 December 2025 18:41 IST