ROURKELA: Even as the government-run Utkalmani Homeopathy Medical College and Hospital (UHMCH) here is all set to get eight regular lecturers after struggling with acute shortage of faculty members, the homeopathy fraternity has sought more recruitment to enhance quality of medical education.
Following recent appointment of 36 homeopathy lecturers and 115 homeopathy medical officers (MOs), the State government has posted eight lecturers and one MO at the UHMCH. However, the postings are being termed as inadequate.
Former UHMCH principal Rantanakar Panda said under existing guidelines, direct recruitment of professors or readers is restricted as existing faculty members get elevated to the posts. “Given the whopping vacancies, the recruitment appears to be a drop in the ocean. The government must hire retired professors so that the students do not suffer,” he said.
The government should also raise the retirement age from 60 years to 65 years to stop further drop in quality of education, he said.Sources said, at the UHMCH, all six posts of professors are vacant and the college has hired one. Of 15 posts of readers, only one regular reader is available and four readers were hired recently.
Similarly, of 15 lecturers, only four regular lecturers appointed in 2017 are available. Only one out of the new eight lecturers has joined and the rest seven are expected to join shortly.Sources said, the college currently has one MO and one regular MO is to join while one more would come on deployment.