Nagpur: The alarming situation regarding faculty positions at government medical colleges (GMCs) across Vidarbha has come to light, revealing a total of 550 vacant posts for professors, associate professors, and assistant professors. The issue was highlighted on Thursday, during the suo motu PIL at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court.
The High Court pointed out that although there is a system in place to fill these posts six months before a vacancy arises, the state has allowed a significant number of positions to remain vacant.
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The division bench of Justices Avinash Gharote and M.S. Jawalkar expressed concerns over the list of vacancies, indicating a very dismal picture. They warned that this situation could have a cascading effect on the quality of medical assistance provided to patients in these government medical colleges. The Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) represented by senior counsel Firdos Mirza, submitted a list comprising vacancies of 76 professors, 116 associate professors, and 358 assistant professors in these GMCs. Notably, the specifics of the vacancies per college were kept confidential.
The state government and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) have been assigning additional charges to existing faculty instead of appointing permanent staff for an extended period. To address the staffing shortage ahead of National Medical Commission (NMC) inspections, doctors are being deputed to government medical colleges (GMCs) that are lacking in staff to "meet the norms." Nagpur, home to some of the oldest medical colleges like IGGMCH and GMCH, continues to face persistent staff shortages, while newer colleges in other districts often lack even full-time deans.
Notably, admissions in the new GMCs at Hinganghat, Washim, and Buldhana are not yet allowed, meaning these colleges cannot be considered fully functional. This limitation is believed to be the reason that the vacancies are primarily from the GMCs in the rest of the eight districts.
In Gondia, most of the teaching posts are still vacant or on a contract basis since the inception of the college and the addition of newly approved colleges, the situation has not improved as all the posts are either on a deputation basis or vacant. Currently, all new colleges have a dean on an additional charge which is violating the guidelines of the GR dated September 5, 2018.
At the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Nagpur, the recent transfer of four associate professors of medicine has created vacancies, resulting in the loss of eight out of 37 postgraduate seats. Projections suggest that this number could drop further to 21 seats next year.
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As per the recent media report by TOI, the HC noted that although some posts have been occupied by persons on contract, that does not 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 has instructed the state government and the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) to submit a mechanism by November 13 that ensures continuous filling of vacancies as they occur.