The Telangana Health Department is introducing the ‘You Quote, We Pay’ scheme to tackle the shortage of specialist doctors in government medical colleges. The scheme lets doctors quote their expected salary. The government will select the lowest offer within a set limit. "For instance, while the initial consolidated pay of a professor at a government medical college is around ₹2 lakh, the government is prepared to offer up to ₹6 lakh under the scheme," said A. Narendra Kumar, Director of Medical Education (DME). The plan targets high-demand specialties like radiology, cardiology, neurology, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, anatomy, biochemistry and physiology. It also aims to attract specialists to colleges in distant districts such as Adilabad and Nizamabad, where retaining faculty has been tough. The scheme will start in 10 medical colleges chosen based on attendance records from the Electronic Bio-metric Attendance System (EBAS). Colleges with low faculty attendance facing possible action or de-recognition from the National Medical Commission (NMC) will get priority. "This is not a blanket policy for all departments but a targeted intervention where it is absolutely required," Dr. Kumar added. This bold move seeks to stabilise medical education in Telangana and strengthen patient care by filling crucial faculty gaps with flexible pay packages.