Parliamentary Committee slams PGIMER for 20pc vacancies

Chandigarh: Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is facing an acute paucity of recruitments as there appears to be 20% seats in various categories that are lying vacant. The parliamentary committee in a strong rejoinder has asked the institute to fill all the vacancies in a timely fashion. The Committee has given priority to filling up of vacancies in the nursing, paramedical, medical, and other technical staff.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare replying to a query of vacant positions vis-à-vis sanctioned strength stated that of the 8,771 seats, 1,616 lay vacant, reports HT.

The report on the issue stated that reduction in administrative staff could be made in order to improve the numbers of paramedical and technical staff.

“With increasing automation, there is a distinct possibility for reduction in requirement of the administrative staff and the resources can be channelized in favour of paramedical and technical staff.”

The institute, in its reply, has mentioned that PGI is undertaking recruitment of all the vacant posts, including faculty, paramedical, nursing, and technical on a regular basis. It has already been decided that recruitment to faculty posts and residents will be undertaken twice a year.

“With the setting up of the specialty centers at present as well as in future, the requisition of additional staff of all categories, including administrative will be needed. The reduction of posts in any category will adversely affect the functioning of the Institute as well as patient care at large,” the PGI’s response on the matter stated.

However, the Committee did not find the institute’s reply satisfactory.

It noted, “Though the department has submitted that ‘recruitment is an ongoing process and the institute is taking steps to recruit people on all the vacant posts but has not indicated the headway made towards filling up the vacancies at PGIMER, The committee treats the reply unsatisfactory.”

“The committee desires to be apprised of the achievement in terms of filling up of vacant posts vis-à-vis sanctioned posts at PGIMER, during the last one year. Also inform whether the funds allocated for expected filling up of vacancies have been utilized or not during the year 2017-18,” it mentioned in its report.

PGIMER Director, Dr. Jagat Ram told Hindustan Times, “There are two categories of staff which are deficient – nurses and resident doctors. We need more faculty at the junior-level like assistant professors. In the future, we will take it up with the SFC and ministry of health that these junior faculty posts have to be there.”

PGIMER has approximately 2,000 junior and senior resident doctors; and at a given point of time, nearly 1,800 doctors are available on the premises.

PGIMER, Deputy Director, Amitabh Awasthi told the daily, “We have a sanctioned strength of 554 faculty members against that we have only 500 in place. In the last two years, we have recruited nearly 217 doctors. Now, the remaining 50 are to be filled by next year.”“So far as staff in other categories is concerned, except nursing staff where the attrition rate is high for obvious reasons. We are always short of 500-700 nurses. There is 2,500 sanctioned strength of nurses.”

He said that there is no shortage of staff in the operation theatres; with clerks and other staff being in a good number too reports HT.