The Telangana government is progressing towards establishing at least one medical college in each of the 33 districts of the State.
In this direction, it is beginning the admission process in the nine new medical colleges in the State at Asifabad, Rajanna Sircilla, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Nirmal, Jangaon, Kamareddy, Karimnagar, Khammam and Vikarabad from this academic year.
While the establishment of these medical colleges is being hailed by all, there are concerns about the faculty appointment and the infrastructure development at these colleges.
NMC nod to only seven colleges
As of date, seven of the nine medical colleges have received the letter of intent for 100 MBBS seats from the National Medical Commission. These medical colleges will be set up under the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) Warangal. The two colleges yet to receive the NMC nod are Karimnagar and Nirmal.
“Unless the infrastructure is completely established, the government should not begin running the colleges. Even before recruiting, the infrastructure has to be fulfilled”Dr B.N. RaoPresident of the Indian Medical Association, Telangana
Dr B.N. Rao, President of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Telangana State, says, “There are a few medical colleges which are yet to get approval from the NMC. The IMA is also planning to approach the NMC so that approval is given soon to them. Meanwhile, unless the infrastructure is completely established, the government should not begin running the colleges. Even before recruiting, the infrastructure has to be fulfilled. The IMA, which has a membership of 20,000 doctors in Telangana, is expecting the government to involve the IMA for suggestions on recruitment and infrastructure.”
Faculty recruitment
Currently, there is a staff deficit, but considering the pace at which the government is making decisions, the problem will likely be solved in the coming months. The transfer GO has been issued for vacancies at only 17 medical colleges. Anybody who has completed two years of service and has worked in medical colleges before can join these new colleges based on vacancy. The Assistant to Associate Professor process is due. A batch of 62 professors was recruited, and about 50 of them have been posted in the new medical colleges, says HOD Critical Care, Government Medical College Nizamabad, Dr. Kiran Madala.
A total of 250 Associate Professor and 1,442 Assistant Professor posts would be filled. If all these numbers are considered, on average, about 80-90 faculty members would be recruited into these new medical colleges.
According to the NMC guidelines, for 100 MBBS students, about 62 faculty members are required. With all these procedures being taken up by the government, within a month or two, there would be enough faculty in these medical colleges, adds Dr. Kiran Madala.
‘Should be on par with Gandhi, Osmania’
Speaking about the infrastructure, Dr. Karthik Nagula, advisor to Telangana Junior Doctors Association, says, “Just constructing namesake medical colleges is not enough. Proper facilities like hostels, libraries, anatomy halls and others available at the Gandhi Medical College and Osmania Medical College should also be provided at these colleges. It is a very good thing that the NMC has accepted the government’s proposal. But now, that should be taken forward without any problems.
Before these nine new medical colleges, the government in November 2022 has started eight medical colleges in Sangareddy, Mahabubabad, Mancherial, Jagtial, Wanaparthy, Ramagundam, Nagarkurnool and Bhadradri Kothagudem. The number of colleges increased to 17 in November 2022, and now, with these nine new colleges, the number will increase to 26.
‘Beneficial in the long run’
A postgraduate resident from Osmania Medical College says to The Hindu that the new medical colleges might have a slow start. Still, in the long run, these medical colleges would benefit the students as undergraduates would have 19 departments to choose from and within the five years of MBBS, they would be able to explore all those departments and decide what is best for them.
The Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) of Telangana says that even the NMC guidelines are now focusing on increasing medical colleges nationwide. In this regard, the letter of intent is given very quickly to the State government. President of the HRDA, Dr. Mahesh Kumar, adds that the outcome can only be seen after the batches graduate.
The Telangana government is definitely in a hurry to get these medical colleges started. As per NMC rules, the first step is the letter of intent provided to the medical college. Then comes four inspections in due intervals, and finally, the NMC provides recognition to these colleges, he says.
‘Should focus on direct recruitment’
“The government should focus on regular calendar direct recruitments. With this, doctors who want to be in the government sector will show interest and stick here for a longer time”Dr. Karthik NagulaAdvisor to Telangana Junior Doctors Association
During new recruitment, the government should focus on making it direct recruitment rather than hiring people on a contract basis. Contract doctors could leave their job anytime, whereas regular doctors are bound to be accountable. Instead of going for contract recruitment, the government should focus on regular calendar direct recruitments. With this, what happens is that people who want to be in the government sector will show interest and stick here for a longer time, adds Dr. Karthik.
The government passed orders last year making it mandatory that government doctors should not do any private practice, which might impact faculty recruitment at these new colleges. A source speaking to The Hindu says that after this ban, nobody can be sure how many doctors will join the service or how long they will work.
Also, senior doctors would not be interested in joining the government sector as they would get better pay at corporate hospitals. The Telangana government does not provide Non-Practice Allowance (NPA), which could discourage doctors from joining the government sector. The current situation in government hospitals has become such that the number of applications received is in single digits for the posts, which would have 60 people competing for previously.
For the recent recruitment of 1,442 Assistant Professors under the Director of Medical Education, it was found that many posts have received double the number of applications for the relevant vacancy, and many posts have received only a few applications.
For 12 vacant posts in Endocrinology, there were only five applications at the certificate verification stage. Similarly, seven applicants for 14 vacant Medical Gastroenterology posts, nine for the 14 Transfusion Medicine posts, 10 applicants for 21 Thoracic Surgery posts, 13 applicants for 17 Cardiology posts and 13 applicants for 20 Emergency Medicine posts.
Many departments, on the other hand, have a lot of applicants for a limited number of vacancies. For example, there are 332 applicants for 177 posts in Anaesthesia, 230 applicants for 144 General Medicine posts, 282 applicants for 149 General Surgery posts, 119 applicants for 15 ENT posts, 249 applicants for 62 Orthopaedic posts and 122 applicants for 8 Ophthalmology posts. Such is the disparity, says a source.
