AP Government halts Contractual Faculty Recruitment; relaxes promotion norms
Medical College Faculty Recruitment
Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government has postponed the contract-based recruitment of associate professors and professors that was scheduled for 17th July. This decision follows an appeal by the Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association (APGDA) urging the State government to call off the proposed recruitment of 40 professors and 37 associate professors on a contractual basis.
The government plans to relax promotion norms for Associate Professors in accordance with the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has implemented the rule as a one-time measure to handle the staff crunch before securing permissions for MBBS admissions for the 2025–26 academic year.
According to the previous norms, an Associate Professor needed at least 3 years of experience to get promoted to the level of a Professor. However, under such circumstances, the government has allowed promotion for those with just one year of experience, reports Edex Live.
In a memorandum submitted to Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav, APGDA representatives previously stressed the importance of prioritising regular promotions for in-service doctors over fresh contractual appointments. The association argued that the planned recruitment violates established service rules and overlooks the pool of eligible candidates already working within the government health system. The association pointed out that G.O. No. 154 mandates that such posts should be filled through regular promotions primarily, and according to G.O. No. 21, issued by the previous government, contract recruitment should only be conducted when no eligible candidates are available.
In the letter, the association mentioned, “In recently conducted Transfers many places are kept vacant in old medical Colleges in the name of NMC and the places will be filled easily with regular promotions and the contract notification mentioned places also many are eligible and willing to join if a proper DPC of 1:2 ratio and genuine counselling is conducted by calling up last eligible candidates also.”
“Many were added to the list of promotion aspirants after fulfilling the NMC Criteria, eligible for promotions to Associate and Professor promotions and the list of available Professor vacancies,” the association further added. Talking to Medical Dialogues, APGDA State President Dr D Jayadheer pointed out that almost all the departments currently have more eligible doctors than sanctioned posts, making the contract recruitment unjustified.
In the letter, the association has also provided a list of eligible candidates and subsequent vacancies. In the Microbiology department, there are 4 vacancies with 6 eligible candidates. Forensic Medicine has 8 vacancies and 11 candidates eligible to fill them. Pathology (Modern Medicine) has a deficit of one post, with one professor currently stationed in Madanapalli awaiting redeployment, despite there being 30 eligible candidates. The Anatomy department has 3 vacancies and 1 eligible candidate, and in SPM, 5 vacant positions and 11 eligible candidates, while Biochemistry faces 2 vacancies with 10 candidates eligible. In Physiology, although there is 1 vacancy, one professor at Adoni is waiting for redeployment; 7 candidates are eligible for this post.
In the Anaesthesia department, there are 14 vacant positions awaiting clearance, with 29 candidates in consideration. Orthopaedics reports 12 vacancies and 18 eligible candidates. General Medicine has 8 vacancies with 16 eligible candidates. The Surgery department lists 5 vacant posts and 31 eligible individuals. Gynaecology has 11 vacancies and 20 eligible candidates, and the Paediatrics department reports 9 vacant posts with 20 eligible applicants. Pediatric Surgery has 4 vacancies and 5 eligible candidates.
In Dermatology, there are 14 vacant positions and 16 eligible candidates. ENT has 11 vacancies, but only 8 eligible candidates are available. Radiation Oncology has 4 vacancies and 5 eligible individuals, while Dental Surgery also faces 4 vacancies with 6 candidates ready for appointment. Another department, unspecified, shows 3 vacancies but only 1 eligible candidate.
