Regular staff oppose appointment of 26 retired professors at GMC, Patiala

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 11

Though Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had announced that government employees would not be given extension in service after attaining 58 years of age, 26 re-employed professors,a majority of them aged above 65, are still working at Government Medical College (GMC), Patiala.

The retirement age in the department is 62 years and the department of medical education gives re-employment up to 70 years of age. The re-employed doctors get the salary equivalent to their last drawn pay as regular employee minus the pension amount.

Many regular employees told The Tribune that they were against the policy of re-employment because that had blocked their promotion avenues.

The regular employees also alleged that re-employed professors hardly attend OPDs and perform ward duties. And in the face of their seniority the authorities dare not take action against them.

A regular employee, pleading anonymity, said, “Owing to the current re-employment policy, a super-specialist doctor has to report to a specialist re-employed doctor because they (re-employed) are given administrative powers. This is very demoralising for the regular employees.”

Assistant professor Dr Iqbal Singh of the physiology department said, “The decision of Chief Minister is a good one. I am the victim of re-employment policy. I have not been promoted for the past 14 years because re-employed faculty occupies the vacancy and doesn’t leave room for our promotions. The government should scrap the policy and get new young doctors to work with. Re-employed professors are a burden on the state exchequer.”

One of the re-employed professors at the GMC Patiala on the condition of anonymity said, “We are working on less salary as compared to regular employees. If we teach in a private medical college, we will get double salary. Besides, the college does not lose any PG seats because of us as three seats are allotted against one professor.”

Meanwhile, Medical Education and Research Minister Dr Raj Kumar Verka said, “I have to check whether the doctors will be exempted from the re-employment policy or not. However, we will think of making changes in the policy.”