Faculty Shortage in Himachal Medical Colleges: NMC's Biometric Attendance rule escalates Health Dept's problem

Shimla: With the National Medical Commission's direction for strict implementation of biometric attendance in medical colleges, the problem of faculty shortage in the medical colleges of Himachal Pradesh has escalated further.

The State Health Department has been struggling to ensure the required faculty at the new medical colleges at Chamba, Hamirpur, Nahan, and Mandi. Now, the requirement of biometric attendance has put an end to the stop-gap arrangement made during the inspections.

The situation has become even more difficult for the Health Department with the exodus of doctors from the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Tanda Medical College in Kangra to the AIIMS at Bilaspur and Jammu.

More than a dozen doctors from these two medical colleges joined either Bilaspur or Jammu in the last one year and two more doctors have now requested permission in this regard from the State Government. As a result of this exodus of doctors, the Nephrology Department at IGMC is getting closed.

Previously, whenever the NMC inspection was scheduled, the State Government had been deputing senior faculty from the IGMC and Tanda at the new medical college. However, NMC is now seeking one-year biometric attendance. Therefore, these four new medical colleges will now require permanent faculties.

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While commenting on the matter, the Secretary of State Health and Family Welfare Department, M Sudha Devi told The Tribune, “The National Medical Commission (NMC) has now made it mandatory that the attendance of the faculty at all the medical colleges should be biometric so that one year record could be accessed.”

She further mentioned that the surplus senior doctors at the IGMC and Tanda will be asked to give their options to join the four new medical colleges, facing 30 to 40 per cent faculty shortage.

The Daily adds that the State has been dealing with the shortage of specialist doctors and it has created problems in the plans of the Government to expand its health infrastructure. In fact, due to the issue of faculty shortage in the New Chowk Medical College in Mandi, the institute is now facing the threat of derecognition.

NMC granted recognition for these four new medical colleges for one year only as opposed to three or five years in the case of older medical colleges at Shimla and Kangra.

These four medical colleges have altogether 125 MBBS seats each, including 25 seats at each of these institutes reserved for the economically weaker sections.

The State Health Department is now planning to apply for commencing PG medical courses at these four new medical colleges and the Government is trying to ensure that not too many doctors are allowed to join outside Himachal Pradesh.

Commenting on this, a senior official told the Daily, “Since most of these doctors have availed benefits, including doing their PG while in service, it is unfair for them to move to greener pastures rather than serving in their state.”

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