Government medical colleges too catch faculty data fudge bug

NEW DELHI: Alarmed at reports that government medical colleges have started data fudging to show higher faculty count, the Centre has asked all colleges to share details of vacancies in all departments immediately. Till now, the malaise was restricted to dodgy private medical colleges.

In a letter issued to all government medical colleges in the country on Monday, accessed by The New Indian Express, the National Medical Commission asked them for these details within 24 hours. There are about 275 government medical colleges in India at present.

The letter said the Union government had taken a serious view of the matter, adding it could figure in a conference Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to have with state chief secretaries. The Commission said its Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) observed that faculty positions in many departments of government medical colleges have stayed vacant for several years.

“The colleges and the institutions for undergraduate, postgraduate and broad and super-speciality courses without proper eligibility qualifications of the teachers,” said the letter signed by MARB member G Suryanarayana Raju.

Teachers in some government medical colleges told The New Indian Express to conceded that to tide over faculty shortage, many of them have been calling teachers from other institutions on short deputation. “Faculty shortage was a major problem during regulatory inspections. Though inspections are happening only during seat enhancement, government medical colleges are struggling to show the required number of teachers and are forced to call them on deputation though they are bound to other institutions,” said a senior faculty attached with a medical college in Himachal Pradesh.

Another faculty member in UP said the practice was rampant in the state as well. “It is also because many doctors do not want to teach in rural and tribal areas. Besides, a proposal to get private practitioners to teach in medical colleges as guest faculties has not picked up too well,” he pointed out.

Taking serious view
The letter said the Union government had taken a serious view of the matter, adding it could figure in a conference Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have with chief secretaries

(THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS)

918 Days ago