HYDERABAD: After several days of protests by doctors, demanding the immediate implementation of the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS), the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare issued necessary orders to the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) on Wednesday.
As per the CAS, pertaining to which a GO was issued in September 2018, if there are no vacancies in the positions of associate professor and professor posts, salaries of faculty members at teaching hospitals will increase after working for a certain number of years. Their designations too would change.
Dr Ramesh Reddy, Director of Medical Education, who has been in the eye of storm of late and accused of delaying the CAS’ implementation, said, “The background work for the implementation had started over two months ago. A few clarifications were required pertaining to the previous GO. Therefore, we were waiting for this GO. The implementation has begun as of today (Monday). It will happen in phases.”
Reddy further explained how the CAS would work. “As per MCI guidelines, a doctor needs four years of experience to become an associate professor. He would need three more years to become a professor. So, if there are enough vacancies, a doctor can become a professor in seven years.
"Now, with the CAS (counted from November 2006, when we entered the UGC), anyone with four years of experience will be promoted from assistant professor to associate professor.
"The financial benefit, however, will be ackowledged from September 2018, when the first GO was issued. More than 900 doctors will benefit from this. But for people eligible to become professors, the decision has to be taken by the government. The DME cannot make that call,” he said.
Meanwhile, teaching doctors are wary of celebrating the announcement. Dr Narahari, general secretary of Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGGDA), said, “The GO for the implementation had been passed on September 5, 2018 itself. It took another nine months for another GO to be passed for the DME to implement the CAS process. We are still wary about the DME’s vested interests. If he (Reddy) is as committed as he claims he is, the process should be completed in the next thirty days.”
Commenting on the idea that has been floated by junior doctors, that the implementation of CAS will also fulfil the faculty deficiency in medical colleges, the DME said, “As of today, there are 260 professors, and around 300 associate professors, and there are proportionate vacancies. We have already completed a round promotions for assistant professors last in accordance to the vacancies. In some departments, the assistant professors who have more than four years of experience will be promoted, however, the pool of such professors is going to be too small to fill in enough vacancies.”
Junior doctors’ strike: KNRUHS postpones exam indefinitely
Hyderabad: Owing to the Telangana Junior Doctors Association’s prolonged strike against the hike in the retirement age of teaching doctors without implementing the Career Advancement Scheme, the internal assessment examinations at Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences have been postponed. However, the junior doctors have refused to call off the strikes until their demands are met. According to Dr PS Vijayender, chairman of TJUDA, the strike would continue on Thursday as well