The State government has decided to introduce biometric system in teaching and non-teaching government medical institutions in Telangana by the end of this month to track faculty and doctor attendance.
The move is a result of the guidelines from Medical Council of India (MCI) to ensure doctors spend stipulated time in government institutions. As per the MCI’s latest circular issued last month, attendance would be linked to Aadhaar details of the faculty. The regulatory had introduced the system from next academic year after receiving complaints from across the country on colleges employing ghost faculty and doctors practising privately while ignoring the public healthcare.
“The biometric attendance facility is being introduced by the end of this month as per the MCI guidelines. We have, however, not received complaints of ghost faculty in government institutions,” said Director of Medical Education M. Ramani. She added that by January, the systems would be in place in 26 teaching and non-teaching medical institutions in the State.
Tracking faculty attendance would likely affect the private medical institutions, confided government health department officials, but said doctors in public healthcare institutions too would be held to account.
Those working for the economically weaker sections of the society in the State’s hospitals, described the move was much needed.
“It is often difficult to find a doctor of associate professor or professor level in a government hospital after 2 p.m. That apart, there are regular delays during surgeries as patients are made to wait for surgeons and anaesthesiologists,” said Mujtaba Hasan Askari, of Helping Hand Foundation, an NGO that supports patients visiting government hospitals.
