4 BMCRI Assistant Professors object to direct recruitment at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court directed the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute (ABVMCRI) not to go ahead with the recruitment process till the next date of hearing after four assistant professors associated with the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) filed a petition challenging the direct faculty recruitment to the institute.  

ABVMCRI was formerly called Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital which functioned under the BMCRI. Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital was later renamed ABVMCRI in 2016 after the government had turned the hospital into a medical college. 

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However, the professors of BMCRI continued to work at ABVMCRI on deputation. In 2019, the government passed an order directing that the excess professors at BMCRI could opt to get transferred permanently and get absorbed into ABVMCRI. After that, it issued a memorandum asking the faculty to make a suitable choice. 

However, the issue arose when the government decided to change its decision and started recruiting fresh faculty at ABVMCRI in June 2021, reports the Deccan Herald. Various faculty members had challenged the state government's decision in court earlier and the court had ruled in its favor. Without absorbing the BMCRI professors, the ABVMCRI issued a notification for direct recruitment on August 5. 

The professors said that they have collectively worked into creating this medical college over the years and hiring fresh faculty now would hurt their prospects. One of the petitioners stated, "At BMCRI, we get promotions only when a senior professor retires. As per the rules, an assistant professor should be promoted as an associate professor after four years of service, and then as a professor after another three years," noting, "But since there is a designated number of faculty in each department at BMCRI already, we don't get promoted even after 10 years of service."

Out of the four petitioners, two have been working as assistant professors for over 10 years and haven't been promoted. The petitioners are demanding the medical college absorb them and then hire new faculty for the remaining vacant positions. 

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