Mumbai High Court Ruling on Medical Staff Vacancies

Mumbai: Coming down on the Maharashtra government's consistent delay in filling up the vacant posts at the state government medical colleges and hospitals, the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has fixed 31st October 2023 as the last date for the state to appoint professors, doctors, and other medical, nursing, or teaching staffers.

The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by AIMIM MP Syed Imtiaz Jaleel, who sought the court's intervention in filling up the vacant posts of doctors in government hospitals and those run by local bodies.

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In its order passed on April 20, the court observed, "Considering our orders passed since May 4, 2021, onwards, we are now constrained to issue directions to the Government, by way of an ultimatum, that the above-mentioned vacancies, especially amongst doctors comprising of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors, shall be filled in by October 31, 2023. We are striking a note of caution that we would not entertain a request for extension of time with regard to this direction."

The bench led by Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Sanjay A Deshmukh stated that they would no longer be accepting government pleas for extending the time needed for making the appointments. It noted, "Shortfall in any of these areas would always create a situation wherein there would be no smooth functioning of the Government Hospitals."

The court, on February 10, had directed the government to fill up the vacant posts on a 'war footing' basis and had asked the state to submit the details of the vacant posts.

In information submitted by Additional Government Pleader S G Karlekar on April 12, as given by the state Medical Education and Drugs Department, the number of vacancies was detailed:

• Clinical subjects: 118 out of 348 sanctioned posts of professors or doctors are vacant.
• Associate professors: 226 out of 689 sanctioned posts are vacant.
• Assistant professors: 691 out of 1,068 posts are vacant.
• Non-clinical subjects: 75 out of 214 posts for professors, 135 out of 480 posts for associate professors, and 116 out of 493 posts for assistant professors are vacant.
• Group-C technical category staff: 1713 out of 4,264 sanctioned posts are vacant.
• Non-technical posts: 1249 out of 3073 posts are vacant.
• Nursing staff category: 3974 out of 11,665 sanctioned posts are vacant.
• Class-4 category staff positions: 3974 out of 9543 posts are vacant.

On April 20, Karlekar also informed the court of the steps they had taken to ensure the proper procurement and supply of medical consumables, medical devices, medical equipment, and medical goods.

In one of the previous hearings, it was informed that Mumbai's Haffkine Institute would no longer function as the sole supplying agency of medicines for Government Hospitals because the government is planning to set up a corporation to ensure an uninterrupted supply of medicines, reports the Indian Express.

In the present order, the bench said that the posts of professors, associate professors, and assistant professors need to be filled even though the government had complied with the previous court orders to some extent.

The bench pointed out a number of previous HC orders which had mandated the filling up of the vacant medical posts as the government medical colleges and hospitals have to be fully functional with such strength and infrastructure.

While referring to a March 13 communication issued by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), the petitioner pointed out that the government is deputing medical professors to the newly established Government Medical Colleges at Parbhani and Osmanabad ahead of the National Medical Commission (NMM) inspection. Calling it a 'create a make-believe picture', the petitioner said that it is just a method to make the new hospitals viable and eligible for recognition. The court called the DMER's action astonishing.

The bench has fixed the next date of hearing on June 13.

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