Big boost to teaching staff in government medical colleges

Hyderabad: A big boost for the teaching faculty working in government medical colleges in Telangana.

The state government is understood to have approved the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) for Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors akin to the process being followed in conventional universities as per the UGC guidelines.

Accordingly, Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors working in various state medical colleges would be getting timely promotions and salary benefits after completing required years of service.

Assistant Professors have to be promoted as Associate Professors after completing four years of service.

But due to lack of vacancies in the government medical colleges, a majority of the teaching faculty have got promotions and increased pay much later and the time period varied from six years to 10 years as seen in the case of gynaecology and ophthalmology departments.

While the teaching faculty in private medical colleges were duly promoted from Assitant to Associate Professors (after four years) and from Associate to Professor cadre (after six years), those working in Government Medical Colleges were deprived of timely promotions all this while.

To overcome these issues, the Telangana government issued GO 107 in September 2018 for the Career Advance Scheme to teaching faculty in the medical colleges. However, it was mentioned that it would be implemented on a prospective basis.

This point was not to the liking of the teaching fraternity as they felt it was an injustice to all those who were deprived of timely promotions and grade pay benefits in the last decade.

The Telangana Government Doctors' Association met Health Minister Eatala Rajender and higher-ups in the department in the last few months and impressed upon them the need to implement CAS from 2006 onwards as a majority of them were deprived of promotions in the combined State.

However, no decision was taken due to continuous elections and model code of conduct that was in place. According to sources, the Chief Minister is understood to have given his consent to implement the CAS on a retrospective basis.

Modifications done to the earlier GO 107 would be released in the form of a fresh GO in the coming days.

Doctors stated that no monetary arrears would be given but concerned teaching faculty (from 2006) would be considered as designated Associate Professors and Professors and accordingly, they would be entitled to related benefits.

An Assistant Professor, who joined the service in 2007 would now be considered as designated Professor (since he or she completed a total of 10 years of service) irrespective of vacancies in the college.

Dr B Narahari, state secretary-general, Telangana Government Doctors Association, stated that the government's decision would encourage more young and interested doctors to venture into teaching field as they would be getting timely promotions and salary hike.

Also, this would address the problem of lack of enough Professors during MCI inspections. Faculty getting designated Professor promotions are eligible to be shown as Professors thus fulfilling the MCI requirements also, he said.