RIMS Adilabad doctors await contract renewals amid staff shortage
Adilabad: Senior doctors who have served at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Adilabad and its affiliated colleges for years are still awaiting the renewal of their agreements, which have been delayed for the past two months.
The delay has created a shortage of medical professionals at the institution. A senior faculty member, on the condition of anonymity, said he has been training students at RIMS since it was founded in 2008.
“We have given 15 to 18 years of service. The government has been utilising our services all these years, but now the renewal is delayed. We are worried about our future because we cannot go anywhere after serving this long,” he said. RIMS is a semi-autonomous medical college established in 2008 by the then chief minister, Y S Rajashekhar Reddy. Following GO 99, most of the staff and doctors were recruited on a contractual basis, reports The New Indian Express.
Educators at various levels, including professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and tutors, were chosen through interviews overseen by a panel led by the Health Principal Secretary, the Finance Principal Secretary, the DEM (Academic), along with the Director, Superintendent, Dean, and a departmental committee of 21 members. After the selection process, the panel’s recommendations were forwarded to the chief minister, who chaired the selection body, for final confirmation.
Earlier, when Andhra Pradesh was united, there used to be a delay of three to six months in payment, but the doctors dedicatedly continued to serve for the benefit of the institution, producing several batches of doctors. According to the contract renewal procedure, contracts are required to be renewed every three years for professors, four years for associate professors, five years for assistant professors, and three years for tutors. However, doctors have raised concerns that there has been no consistency in the renewal process, and the process has been repeatedly delayed.
One of the senior doctors stated that the doctors had taken the matter to the High Court earlier, and the court instructed the administration to ensure that they continue their services. “It is a semi-autonomous institution. Executive Board meetings were held regularly until 2017, but none have been organised since then. If meetings are held, several issues would come to light, and mistakes could be corrected,” he added.
The group of senior doctors facing a delay in renewal recently had a meeting with the Director of Medical Education (DME) in Hyderabad and submitted a memorandum asking for immediate renewal. Accusations were made regarding efforts to phase out GO 99 and introduce GO 1085, issued in June, with the alleged goal of removing long-serving contract faculty. Under GO 99, they had long-term contract appointments, while GO 1085 allows only one-year contractual engagement under the Director of Medical Education, reports The Daily.
A senior doctor noted that while RIMS institutions in the former united Andhra Pradesh were integrated into the government system, Adilabad RIMS retained semi-autonomous status. They said that this change will seriously affect the job security of senior doctors who have contributed to the healthcare development for more than a decade. A senior doctor said, “Doctors from across India come to work here. It appears there is a conspiracy to remove GO 99 and introduce GO 1085 to create problems for senior contract doctors.”
Speaking to TNIE, RIMS director Jaisingh Rathod said the administration is considering several steps to address the issue, “We are organising meetings with the doctors. A decision will be taken after the meeting,” he said.
