SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 2: Several faculties in the newly set up three medical colleges of Jharkhand face shutdown any day as the contract of professors and associate professors has ended and the state government has not renewed it so far.
To save the institutions from the de-recognition of the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Jharkhand government had recruited 27 associate professors and professors on a two-year contract in 2021 in Medinirai Medical College Hospital (MMCH) Palamu, Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) Hazaribagh and Phulo Jhano Medical College Hospital (PJMCH) Dumka.
The contract period of these associate professors and professors ended on October 31st, but the state government has so far not given any directive to the local authorities of all three medical colleges on whether to continue or terminate their service.
Notwithstanding the completion of the two-year contract on October 31st, these senior faculty members have continued holding classes in the colleges and attending patients at hospitals.
However, the director of medical education of the state health department Dr SK Singh said that there is no need to worry about it as the process of renewal of these professors and associate professors is in progress.
A senior official of the state health department said that the contract letter of these professors/associate professors would be issued back-dated so that they do not face honorarium deductions. Earlier too, the government had renewed contracts from back date.
These new medical colleges of Jharkhand opened in 2019 with 100 seats of MBBS with the approval of the then Medical Council of India (MCI). But in the 2020 academic session, the medical college monitoring body (NMC) put a ban on admission in these three medical colleges of Jharkhand due to senior faculty members’ deficiency and infrastructure.
However, on the affidavit of the Chief Minister and the Additional Chief Secretary of Health, the Medical Assessment Rating Board of NMC lifted the ban on admission in these new medical colleges in the 2021 academic session.
A retired professor at Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital pointed out that since regular senior teachers (professor/ associate professor rank) are not coming for interviews, these contractual teachers are the last option for saving the colleges.
