ET Report
Jammu, Apr 29: Government Medical College and Hospital Jammu has more than the required faculty, thanks to political intevention.
Pledging anonymity, a group of doctors told Early Times that according to the rules, a three-year minimum teaching experience is required at lecturers level to get promotion as Assistant Professor, two years for Associate Professor and then Professor. Similarly to smoothly run major departments like Surgery, Medicine & Gynaecology, 1 Professor each is required; Associate Professors required in these three major departments are 5, 5 and 3 respectively; whereas Lecturer/Assistant Professors required are 5, 6 and 6.
They said this is for 150-MBBS students intake capacity per year, but the already working/sanctioned strength of the faculty in these departments is much higher than the required. With this available strength even 300 MBBS intake capacity medical college can be easily run.
In Surgery, for example, 5 Professors, 3 Associate Professors, 13 Lecturer are either working/sanctioned; in Medicine 2 Professors, 2 Associate Professor and 13 Lecturers are working; and similarly in Gynaecology 2 Professors, 2 Associate Professors and 13 Lecturers/Assistant Professors are working. And in small departments like Eye, Orthopaedics, and Pharmacology the requirement as per MCI is Professor 1 each, Associate Professor 1 in Eye, 3 in Ortho & 2 in Pharmacology are required but the sanctioned strength/working strength of these departments is 3 Professors each, 4, 4 & 3 Associate Professors and 7, 8 & 8 Lecturers/Assistant Professors.
Same situation is with all other departments viz Paediatrics, Pathology, Anatomy, ENT and other, sources added.
The question is how and why Prof HOD/Medicine & Member Coordinator MCI convinced the Principal GMC, Jammu, Planning Department H&ME as well as Comm/Secy's H& ME Department in getting the faculty positions enhanced illegally and in gross violation of MCI norm.
In 2015, an influential head of a department assisted by his close lieutenant, Assistant Professor of a department, compelled the H&ME Department to first increase various faculty posts in different departments of GMC, Jammu vide G.O. No: 164-HME of 2015, dated 11-5-2015 and the again vide G.O.No : 329-HME of 2015, dated 18-08-2015.
Sources said it seems there is a game plane of these influential doctors to accommodate their friends and relatives.
One post of Associate Professor was created to get promotion in 2016. Similar situations can be noted in Eye, Gynaecology, Pathology, Paediatrics, Orthopaedics and other departments.
Sources added that as previous actions of Secy H&ME Department remained unchecked and unchallenged, it gave moral boosting to these influential doctors and they again compelled senior officials to send another proposal of enhancing large number of faculty post vide L.No: GMC-J/Plg/314/2015-16/2551 dated 02-03-2016.
"Why it is happening like this should be thoroughly probed. A faculty member who was otherwise supposed to get promoted in 2018-19, will get promotion in 2016, for that he/she can do anything, can even pay handsome amount for getting the same," said sources.
They asked whether the existing faculty is doing justice with the work it has to do and how many hours of teaching each faculty member do as well as how many research projects are being run in the GMC, Jammu in different departments, how much quality surgery/intervention this existing faculty is doing.
They also said for providing quality services, quantity is not required and that is why MCI has fixed certain number of teaching posts for each specialty. The quantum of faculty posts enhanced and if more are enhanced shall be increasing tremendous financial burden on the state exchequer. The department should stop private practice of the teaching faculty of GMC to restore its lost glory. |
