Time-bound promotion for medical profs soon in Punjab

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, January 17

After years of delay, the medical education department is planning to implement a time-bound “designation (upgrade) scheme” for medical and dental professors in the state.

If implemented, the teaching faculty of medical colleges wouldn’t have to be apprehensive about their promotions, attracting more professionals to colleges.

The department has sent the file to the Department of Personnel for approval.

In an official communique to the department, the principal secretary, medical education department, said despite an approval from the Finance Department last year, they had not received any communication on the policy so far.

Under the promotion policy, designations would be delinked from pay scales, thereby, freeing the state from the financial burden due to promotions. To avoid any hurdles during implementation, the department has already taken consent from the medical and dental teachers’ association for the new arrangement.

Experts claimed that time-bound promotion would solve the issue of faculty shortage as re-designation without pay scales would automatically create more senior faculty, which in turn increases PG seats.

In the absence of the policy of time-bound promotions, many professors had been working on the same post for over a decade. Consequently, governments had to re-employ around 40 professors in two state-run medical colleges in Patiala and Amritsar.

Dr Diwan Bhullar, state general secretary, Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association, said it was the long-pending demand of the faculty.

“We have been facing a lot of embarrassment as our students — who had been teaching in other colleges where time-bound promotions already exist — have become our seniors. The policy should be implemented immediately,” he said.

Meanwhile, DK Tiwari, principal secretary, medical education, said: “The process to implement the policy is on. Necessary approvals from various departments are being taken before the implementation.”

To address faculty crunch

• Designations will be delinked from pay scales, thereby, freeing the state from the financial burden due to promotions
• Experts say time-bound promotion would solve the issue of faculty shortage as re-designation without pay scales would create more senior faculty, which in turn increases PG seats
• The medical education department has sent the file to the Department of Personnel for approval