Doctor-state tussle likely to worsen PG seat crisis

The tussle between the government and teaching doctors over the recently issued government resolution (GR) and the latter threatening to join private colleges might just aggravate the shortage of post-graduate (PG) medical seats in the state.

DNA had published a report on June 12 about the GR, issued on May 4 by the medical education department, which regularised the services of temporary teaching doctors but nullified their experience by stating that January 22, 2009, will be noted as their joining date. Following the GR, private colleges have opened up their doors for disgruntled professors fearing a loss in their seniority.

Over the last few years, while the number of PG seats in government colleges has steadily declined, seats in private colleges have risen. “Competition for PG seats is becoming tougher and the chances of middle-class students studying medicine are diminishing,” lamented Dr Anil Mukund, who is seeking a PG seat.

In 2008, the number of PG seats was to 411 from 653 in 2007 due to a lack of professors.  This year, though, there are roughly 700 seats available.

The situation is not surprising given that one of the most prestigious medical colleges in the country, the Grant Medical College, attached to the JJ Hospital, is languishing due to a lack of experienced hands. For instance, the plastic surgery department has not had a professor for the last 6 years; the endocrine department has shut down for want of professors; and 12 dialysis machines in the nephrology department are lying idle for want of a nephrologist.

In Maharashtra, only about 20-25% of PG aspirants actually get a seat. “I ranked 250 out of 8,400 students and I barely managed to get a seat,” said Dr Ameya Amrutwar, a final-year PG student of psychiatry at Sion Hospital. More than 10,000 students will vie for 700-odd PG seats this year.

Students then pay phenomenal fees in private colleges. “The amount ranges from Rs 40lakh for surgery to Rs 55 lakh for orthopaedic,” said Amrutwar.

“Most professors are moving to private hospitals for better pay packages and we will have to think of bridging the gap,” said state health minister Rajesh Tope.

Directorate of Medical Education and Research joint director Dr Pravin Shingare said there are about 200 PG seats in private colleges and they have not gone up as they are too face a crunch in teaching faculty.

Private colleges that stand to gain from the GR
- NKP Salve Medical College, Nagpur — owned by Ranjit Deshmukh, who was once a minister and chief of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee
- DY Patil Dental College, Pune — owned by veteran Congress leader DY Patil
- NDMVPS Medical College, Nashik — owned by the sitting MLA of the NCP Vasantrao Pawar
- Vasantdada Patil Dental College, Miraj, Sangli — run by Vasantdada Patil Trust
- Sharad Pawar Dental College, Wardha — run by Datta Meghe
- Bharatiya Vidyapeeth College — owned by state revenue minister Patangrao Kadam
- Terna Public Charitable Trust — owned by MP from NCP Padamsinh Patil

Geeta Sukumaran, 55, lecturer, bio-chemistry, JJ Hospital
After 32 years of service, the last thing Sukumaran deserves is retiring without pension benefits. She is still waiting for a promotion to the post of associate professor and a letter from the government saying that she is a permanent employee. “The GR is unfair on us,” she said, adding that she just has a year to retire. “I joined the government service in 1977 when there weren’t enough teachers.” Despite having a first class post-graduate degree in chemistry, she chose to join a government college. There were many occasions when she was asked to submit documents to get her services regularised but till date she is a temporary employee. Many of her students have become permanent doctors in government hospitals. “I hope during retirement the government takes up the issue on case-to-case basis.”

Dr Prabha Mulay, 48, lecturer, pathology, Govt Medical College, Nanded
Mulay passed out from the Government Medical College at Ambajogai in 1990. “I got recruited to the post of lecturer at the Government Medical College at Nanded,” she said. After 19 years, her salary has almost remained the same and she continues to be a temporary employee of the government. Mulay failed to clear the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) in her first attempt. “I did not get promoted to the post of associate professor,” she said. But following that there were no regular MPSC exams in the state. “There were others who were preparing for exams to earn a better position. But the state never gave us an opportunity,” she said. “Now, it is unfair on part of the state to say that we cannot be given benefits at par with MPSC candidates,” she said.

Dr Medha Badwaik, 48, Indira Gandhi Govt Medical College, Nagpur
Badwaik said that the only incentive why teachers continue to serve government hospitals and colleges is the job security. “The GR has demotivated many teachers,” she said. She stands to lose about 19 years of her service due to the GR. Despite anesthesia being a very sought-after branch in both public as well as private sector, Badwaik has remained dedicated to teaching and training future anesthetists. “The decision is particularly unfair to me as the government never conducted an MPSC exam for the post of registrar in anesthesia post-partum,” she said. “Initially, the government promised to give us all benefits. We are still hopeful that something will work out. Otherwise it will be difficult to check the exodus of professors cum doctors from the government teaching hospitals,” she said.