Teachers of homoeopathy colleges await fair treatment

The teaching staff at the Capital’s two homoeopathy colleges are still waiting to be brought at par with teachers of the modern system of medicine, something they say was promised to them nearly a decade ago.

The teachers’ association claims that it has approached the Delhi Government a number of times but nothing has come out of the meetings so far. “A decision was taken by the Delhi Cabinet to bring homoeopathy medical officers and teaching staff at par with colleagues in the modern system of medicine.

While the decision about medical officers has been implemented as per the gazette notification published on June 27, 2007, as far as the teaching staff is concerned, we have seen no forward movement in our case even though a decision was taken on this in 2001,’’ noted a letter written to senior Health Department officials by the teachers’ association consisting of members from the two homoeopathy colleges.

“It is surprising that a decision with regard to the teaching staff has not been implemented till date. A number of representations have been made with no result. To a Right to Information query, the Government said regulations for the teaching cadre of the Indian system of medicine and homoeopathy have been framed and these are under examination with the Services Department. The reason for not finalising the regulations by the Services Department for such a long period is beyond our comprehension,’’ said a lecturer.

“The regulations for time-bound promotion for medical officers (homoeopathy) in the Delhi Health Services have been notified and it is important to mention that the selection process and qualification for medical officers (homoeopathy) and medical officer (teaching) are the same. In spite of parity in qualification and selection, homoeopathy teachers are discriminated against and denied their opportunity of time-bound promotion. At present these teachers working for more than six years are still working at the entry level without any promotion. This is against all services rules and principles,’’ complained another lecturer.

The teachers’ associations of the two homoeopathy colleges have said that in Delhi Government medical colleges for modern medicine regulations are already in place and the teaching staff are entitled to time-bound progression. “As per the Cabinet decision, the teaching staff of homoeopathy medical colleges are also entitled to get facilities at par with the teaching institutions of the modern system of medicine. There is no reason why the decision of the Cabinet has not been implemented in letter and in spirit,’’ said the association.