The Legal Coordination Committee for Government Doctors has alleged that the State government resorted to “impersonation” during the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) inspections of medical colleges. It has disapproved of such alleged impersonations, and, in a statement, said that though qualified government doctors are available, the government was unwilling to conduct promotion counselling on time.
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The committee’s statement said several government doctors were eligible for promotion from the post of associate professor to professor, and from assistant professor to associate professor. Specifically, more than 200 doctors currently working as associate professors in medical college have completed three years and were qualified to become professors, as per NMC rules but the government was delaying the conduct of promotion counselling. Due to this delay, though qualified doctors were available, doctors were being made to “impersonate” during inspections, turning them into “scapegoats”, the committee said.
Many government colleges have vacant posts of professors and associate professor. As per the NMC, the shortage of faculty should not exceed 10%. During the NMC inspections, the committee alleged that there was pressure from the Directorate of Medical Education to transfer doctors from other government medical colleges to those with shortages.
The committee also asked why the government has been lax in appointing new directors after the retirement of the Director of Medical Education and Director of Medical and Rural Health Services. Similarly, the post of the dean in the Government Medical college, Villupuram was vacant. The committee has demanded the immediate conduct of promotion counselling.