Promotion quota-Pb State Medical & Dental Teachers Association annoyed
Jasbir Kapoor/ royalpatiala.in/ Patiala
The Punjab Government doctors, both in Medical and Dental colleges and working under Punjab Civil Medical Services, are annoyed from the manner by which the matter of promotions is being handled by the state Government, both under direct as well as promotion quota.
The state Government has failed to timely fill up the posts of assistant professor vacant since long under promotion quota, thus giving the opportunity to place very junior doctors being selected under direct quota to become senior to their seniors in PCMS as the selection committee under Dr. KK Talwar, Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab is adamant and has started the process of selections under direct quota.
Secondly the medical dental teachers are demanding to abolish filling of the posts of Professor and Associate Professor under direct quota and fill the same under promotion quota as such precedence is not being followed in any of the Punjab Government department and prevalent only in medical dental education cadre. Although, the process of amendment in Medical Education Rules is under active consideration of the Government, but the selection committee under Dr. Talwar is in haste to fill these posts under direct quota for the reasons best known to the committee members in spite of the fact the MCI has not pointed out any deficiency of these higher posts during its recent inspection.
Even the aspiring candidates under direct quota selection have rejected the selection criteria of Dr. Talwar Committee which has kept 50 percent marks for interview in total violation of the Supreme Court directions that interview marks should not exceed 15 percent.
In a joint press statement, Dr. Mridu Gupta and Dr. DS Bhullar, President and General Secretary of Punjab State Medical & Teachers Association and Dr. Ashok Kumar Bohot, President PCMS Specialist Doctors Association Punjab, have out rightly rejected the promotions being made under direct quota and have demanded to immediately dissolve the selection committee under Dr. KK Talwar strongly suspecting nepotism and selection of candidates from outside Punjab. The doctors have further demanded to fill all these posts by Punjab Public Service Commission which is the actual constitutional body meant for such selections and have made a strong appeal to Chief Minister Punjab Amrinder Singh and Health & Medical Education Minister Brahm Mohindra to intervene to set the house in right direction.
Both the associations have further decided to step up their protest next week by totally paralyzing hospital functioning and teaching in medical dental colleges if their demands are not fulfilled in time.
