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| GMC Jammu, Srinagar running short of faculty; face MCI axe | | | Bashir Assad
JAMMU, Mar 20: Mocking at the tall claims of the State Government in health sector, clouds of de-recognition loom large over the Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and Jammu and the State Government appears to be in no mood to save these prestigious institutions much to the annoyance of medicos and its students, who are perturbed by the unrelenting threat.
Since 2006, the prestigious Government Medical College Srinagar followed by Government Medical College Jammu have been facing threat from the Medical Council of India and it has been repeatedly reported that the institutions may lose some of the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in future primarily because of the failure of the successive Governments in Jammu and Kashmir, at least after 2001, to ensure implementation of the Medical Council of India (MCI) recruitment and promotion rules, which form the basis for medical colleges in India to run their undergraduate or postgraduate courses in a hassle-free manner.
Insiders mince no words in accusing the Governments of neglecting the vital institution. The demand that the MCI rules need to be implemented has been made since 2001, but it hasn't found any takers despite the fact that some of the courses have already been de-recognized by the MCI due to the absence of requisite number of professors or associate professors therein. Though the issue is being discussed in the meetings off and on but nothing concrete has been done so far.
The present faculty status in the twin medical colleges is enough to suggest that the Government has never been serious in addressing the problem of shortage of faculty and if it continues to remain in slumber, the axe of MCI is sure to fall on these prestigious Government Medical Colleges both at Jammu and Srinagar. In written reply to a question raised by Bharat Bhushan, MLA, the Government has itself stated that out of total faculty strength of 288 in GMC, Jammu only 201 are in position while as 87 are vacant. Likewise, the reply States that the total faculty strength in GMC, Srinagar is 399 out of which only 255 are in position while as 144 are vacant in GMC, Jammu the number of sanctioned posts of professors is 49 out of which only 26 are in position and 23 are vacant.
Similarly in GMC, Srinagar, the sanctioned strength of Professors is 55 out of which only 24 are in position while as 31 are vacant. In case of Associate Professors, the sanctioned strength at GMC, Srinagar is 63 out of which 41 are in position and 22 are vacant. Similarly in JMC, Jammu, the sanctioned strength of Assistant Professors is 46 out of which 32 are in position while as 14 are vacant. Similarly out of 103 sanctioned strength of Assistant Professors in GMC, Srinagar only 72 are in position while as 31 are vacant. In JMC, Jammu, the sanctioned strength of assistant Professors is 67 out of which 39 are in position while as 28 are vacant.
Similarly, out of 178 sanctioned strength of Lecturers in GMC Srinagar only 118 are in position and 60 are vacant while as in GMC, Jammu the sanctioned strength of Lecturers is 126 out of which 104 are in position and 22 are vacant. Interestingly MCI guidelines lay emphasis that the entry post to medical faculty is Assistant Professor, who after four years becomes an Associate Professor and after three years becomes a Professor.
But J&K Government Medical Colleges the entry post to faculty is lecturer, who becomes eligible for an Assistant Professor post after three years. The Assistant Professor becomes eligible as Associate Professor in five years, who in turn becomes eligible for a Professor post in next five years. This four-tier system, however, has drawn flak from the concerned quarters for varied reasons.
In GMC it takes 13 years (never happens in that period) for a doctor to become a professor where as per the MCI, it takes only just eight years to become a professor. So if the MCI Teaching Eligibility Rules are followed, there will be no dearth of Professors, Associate Professors and as such the looming threat of de-recognition will be over. But in J&K there are Medical Education Gazetted Rules made three decades back which are in total contradiction with the MCI Rules. And no one seems to be interested in addressing the issue. However, the Government has stated in its reply to Bharat Bushan's question that in order to fill these vacant posts, the direct recruitment posts have been referred to J&K Public Service Commission for making selection against these posts and the posts falling under promotion quota are being filled up by making promotions from eligible feeding cadre members. It states that the vacancies are also being filled up on temporary basis on academic arrangement in terms of the provisions of SRO 384 of 2009. |
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