PGI Chandigarh's panel meet postponed amid Telemedicine dept expansion concerns

Chandigarh: The Standing Finance Committee (SFC) meeting of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI Chandigarh), initially scheduled for last week in New Delhi, has been postponed, with the rescheduled date pending confirmation. The delay is attributed to the unavailability of Health Secretary Sudhansh Pant.

Furthermore, there is growing discontent among some officials within the ministry as the expansion of the telemedicine department has not been included in the supplementary agenda.

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'' In the previous SFC, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had expressed discontent for not including faculty posts for telemedicine department and only getting non-faculty posts approved,'' said an official in the ministry.

As per a media report in TOI, the absence of an agenda item related to the telemedicine department's expansion in the day's planned SFC meeting was noted. This was despite recent praise from the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in Parliament. The decision to hold an additional SFC meeting within a year came under the directive of former Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

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In April, the first SFC meeting took place. However, due to the prolonged hiatus of governing body meetings over the past two years, numerous pending SFC agendas remained unresolved. An official associated with PGI explained that several issues from the first SFC meeting had not been addressed. Consequently, the subsequent agenda was developed without additional items. However, if another meeting occurs in the coming months, additional matters may be incorporated into the list.

Furthermore, in the most recent SFC session, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya directed the establishment of an external committee to review the contentious seniority list within the institute.

The delay and ongoing discussions underscore the importance of addressing critical matters related to healthcare and the expansion of vital services like telemedicine at PGIMER.

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