AP: New career advancement scheme for Teaching Faculty to add more PG medical seats

Vijayawada: Post Graduate medical seat numbers are likely to get a fillip with a career advance scheme getting implemented by the Medical Education Department.

The lack of adequate teaching staff has resulted in the Medical Council of India(MCI), keeping a check on the number of postgraduate seats in institutions.

Keeping the paucity in faculty numbers in mind, the state government has introduced the career advancement scheme for assistant professors, associate professors, and professors working in the Government Medical Colleges.

An assistant professor having completed 5 years of service will be promoted to the position of designate associate professor. The same would be the case with associate professors and professors, who will also be granted promotions. The Director, DME has intimated the government of the above promotion proposal.

The file which is pending with the finance department will move only after getting a green signal from the finance department, as giving time-bound promotions also involves the government increasing salaries of employees.

The Tamil Nadu government has already introduced the scheme.It is believed that professors, associate professors, and assistant professors, recently, met Kamineni Srinivas, the Medical and Health Minister to request him for time-bound promotions for faculty. They were assured that the government would consider their request.

Sources in the Medical Education Department state that there exist 800 PG medical seats in the eight government medical colleges , presently.

The Guntur Medical College has asked the MCI to sanction forty PG medical seats. The MCI team shall do so after an infrastructural inspection. If promotions are granted, in this case, other heads for postgraduate seats are likely to be raised.

Dr K Babji, Director, Medical Education said: "If assistant and associate professors are given time-bound promotions, we will fulfill all the requirements and get some more PG medical seats," reports the Hans India