Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 22: Worst faculty position in the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu can be well gauged from the official figures which stated that nearly 50 per cent posts in the College were vacant.
“In such a condition, the patients were suffering in Wards, OPD, Emergency and, above all, for surgeries for which they were being given waiting dates of months together’’, official sources said.
The official figures revealed that there were total of 358 sanctioned posts of faculty in the GMC Jammu including 63 Professors (44 in Non Plan and 19 in Plan), 66 Associate Professors (37 in Non Plan and 29 in Plan), 82 Assistant Professors (51 in Non Plan and 31 in Plan) and 147 Lecturers (90 in Non Plan and 57 in Plan).
Of 358 sanctioned posts, only 182 faculty members were in position while 176 posts were vacant.
The highest vacancies were in the category of Lecturers (68), Assistant Professors (38), Associate Professors (33) and Professors (37). The serving faculty included 26 Professors, 33 Associate Professors, 44 Assistant Professors and 79 Lecturers.
Significantly, the Medicines Department, one of the most sought after in the Medical College has all four posts of Professors vacant. Of 12 posts of Registrars in the same Department, 50 per cent were vacant.
The Surgery Department has no good strength as two posts of Professors in the sanctioned strength of 5 were vacant. Out of eight posts of Lecturers, there were three vacancies while eight posts of Registrars in a total of 14 were vacant.
Out of one each post of Professor and Associate Professor and four posts of Registrars in Cardiology Department, all were vacant. In Gynecology, one post of Professor in a total of three and three posts each of Lecturers and Registrars out of sanctioned strength of seven and 10 respectively were vacant.
In Chest Diseases, there were only three sanctioned posts of faculty—one each from Professor, Associate Professor and Lecturer. There was only one Lecturer in the Department while other posts were vacant.
The Department of Anesthesia, which mainly contributed to the Surgeries besides manning the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), also had all three posts of Professors vacant. Of 6 posts of Lecturers, four were vacant. There were only on posts each of Associate Professor and Assistant Professor sanctioned in the Blood Bank and both were vacant.
Surprisingly, there was no sanctioned post of Associate Professor or Assistant Professor in Forensic Medicines Department while one sanctioned post of Professor was vacant. Of three sanctioned posts of Assistant Professors and Lecturers in ENT, two and one posts respectively were vacant.
One sanctioned post of Associate Professor in Dermatology was vacant while 50 per cent sanctioned strength of Assistant Professors and Lecturers were also vacant. Another important Department of Orthopedics has no Professor. Lone sanctioned post of Professor was vacant in the Department. Fifty per cent posts of Associate Professors, Assistant Professors and Lecturers in Orthopedics were also vacant. Of six posts of Registrars, four were vacant. Of four sanctioned posts of Lecturers in Radio Diagnosis Department, three were vacant. Lone sanctioned posts of Associate Professor and out of two posts of Lecturers, one was vacant in Radiotherapy Department.
Lone sanctioned post of Professor in Psychiatry Department was vacant while there was no sanctioned post of Associate Professor in the Department. Two sanctioned posts of Professor and one Associate Professor in Bio Chemistry were vacant.
Sources said out of 24 Departments in the GMC Jammu, the faculty below the rank of Professors headed 10. A Lecturer headed one of the Department Chest Diseases while three Departments were headed by Assistant Professors.
According to sources, there was dire need of manifold increase in sanctioned strength of 358 faculty members in the GMC Jammu at all levels especially the Lecturers to provide some kind of succor to the ailing community, which has been suffering badly at the GMC.
Sources said it was due to extreme shortage of faculty besides infrastructure that the poor patients were being made to wait for months together for surgeries and there were large queues of patients at OPDs in a number of Departments.