HC flags 550 vacant posts of doctors in Vid govt medical colleges

Nagpur: A total of 550 posts of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors are lying vacant since a long time across govt medical colleges (GMCs) in Vidarbha. This startling revelation came during the hearing of a suo motu PIL at the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday. The HC pointed out that although a system of filling up these posts six months before a vacancy is created is in place, the state has allowed so many posts to fall and remain vacant.A division bench of justices Avinash Gharote and MS Jawalkar said the list of vacancies indicates a very dismal picture, which will have a cascading effect on the quality of medical assistance provided to patients in these GMCs. The Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), through senior counsel Firdos Mirza, submitted a list comprising vacancies of 76 professors, 116 associate professors, and 358 assistant professors in these GMCs. A breakdown of the vacancies with respect to each college has been kept confidential.The state govt and DMER have for so long been assigning additional charges to faculty members instead of appointing full-time staff. Ahead of National Medical Commission (NMC) inspections, doctors are deputed to GMCs that are deficient in staff to ‘meet the norms'. While Nagpur has the oldest medical colleges in IGGMCH and GMCH, those in other districts are relatively newer and don't even have full-time deans. As admissions in new GMCs at Hinganghat, Washim, and Buldhana are not yet allowed, they can't be considered fully functional. Hence, the vacancies are believed to be from GMCs in the rest of the eight districts.Most of the teaching posts in Gondia are still vacant or on contract basis since the inception of the college. With new colleges being approved, all posts are either on deputation basis or vacant. All new colleges have a dean on additional charge, violating the guidelines of the GR dated September 5, 2018.At GMCH Nagpur, the vacancies occurring from the transfer of four associate professors of medicine have cost eight out of the 37 PG seats. It is apprehended that this figure may come down to 21 seats next year.The HC noted that although some posts have been occupied by persons on contract, that does not actually serve the purpose of providing quality education to the students. "No reason is forthcoming as to why these vacancies are not being filled on a permanent basis as these are sanctioned vacancies. However, the issue needs to be addressed on an urgent basis, as quality education needs to be imparted to the students," the HC said.The court asked the state and DMER to place on record a mechanism to ensure continuous filling up of these vacancies as and when they arise by November 13.
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