Status: Not ApprovedChennai: Two days after news emerged that the National Medical Commissionissued notices to 35 of the state’s 36 government medical colleges, the state’s health minister dismissed the development as “routine,” asserting that all vacancies were filled and deficiencies rectified.His statements, however, failed to address the underlying question: how did Tamil Nadu, which boasts of having the largest number of govt medical institutions, end up in such a mess?The undergraduate medical education board of NMC asked medical college deans to explain the reasons for vacancies in up to 95% of the departments, deficiencies in staff attendance, and inadequacies in services, including surgeries. “When we appointed 2,246 doctors for various posts in primary health centres a few months ago through the medical services recruitment board, we found there were many postgraduates in that batch. They were all posted in district hospitals and medical colleges. After this, there were around 415 vacancies. The state filled 328 posts through counselling last week. On Tuesday, an additional 87 doctors (non-service PGs) were given compulsory postings. Now, we have no vacancies in medical colleges,” Subramanian told reporters. Additionally, doctors have been instructed to mark biometric attendance at the time of entry and exit as per NMC requirements, he said. “Getting notices from NMC is routine. The regulatory authority points out errors, the mistake is rectified, and deans concerned offer written explanations. It happened to colleges like Stanley, Thanjavur, and Trichy two years ago. This year, at least 400 medical colleges across India, including those in BJP-ruled states, have received similar notices,” he said, criticising opposition parties, including BJP leader K Annamalai, for “exaggerating” the issue. Replies to showcause notices have been sent from 25 colleges, the remaining will be sent before the deadline, he said. While doctors’ organisations such as the Service and Post Graduate Doctors Association vehemently deny that all vacancies in govt colleges have been filled, former health ministerC Vijayabaskarsaid the government acted “irresponsibly,” endangering not just undergraduate medical seats but also the health of the people. “Getting show-cause notices from an NMC may be routine, but doesn’t he realise it is unusual for almost all of them to get it at the same time?” he asked. “Our govt tripled the number of undergraduate medical seats by increasing seats in existing medical colleges and adding more medical colleges.Over the last four years, DMK has added no additional seats. But they have made a mess of all the existing colleges by not conducting counselling to fill up vacancies,” he said. Doctors’ associations claim that there are at least 700 vacancies in the 12,000 posts sanctioned by the directorate of medical education. This includes 400 vacancies in the posts of assistant professors and 300 vacancies in the posts of associate professors and professors. “This situation arose because promotion counselling was not conducted on time. This led to a lot of confusion and litigation. The state did not clear these litigations on time. As a result, counselling for nearly three years was kept in abeyance,” said SDPGA state organising secretary Dr A Ramalingam. “The counselling that was completed was for the 2023 batch. We still have two more batches waiting,” he said. Doctors also pointed out that the state has not increased the staff strength as per the 2023 regulations of the NMC. The state should have added at least 600 more posts to the existing 12,000 posts, they said. “The state has maintained minimum standard requirements mentioned in the 2023 guidelines. In some departments, we have excess candidates,” said health secretary P Senthilkumar. “The vacancies that existed were only because we could not hold counselling due to court cases,” he said. MSID:: 121167413 413 |