VIJAYAWADA: In a key decision, the State government decided to sack as many as 76 assistants and two associate professors working at government medical colleges for being on unauthorised leave for more than a year. In a GO issued recently, the government sought an explanation from the absentees on why it shouldn’t termite them from the services within 15 days.
Among the assistant professors, 18 are from Andhra Medical College (AMC) in Visakhapatnam, 13 from Sri Venkateswara Medical College in Tirupati and 12 from Government Medical College in Ongole. Moreover, one of the assistant professors at AMC, Dr Syed Ahmad Basha, has been on unauthorised absence for more than seven-and-half years.
DVSL Narasimham, Director of Medical Education (DME), in a show-cause notice that was issued recently, said that the associate and assistant professors were on unauthorised leave for more than a year. “The professors have violated the services rule as they have not obtained any prior permission for leave. Their absence will be treated as resignation from government service as it has caused massive inconvenience to the hospital administration,” he stated.
Meanwhile, AMC authorities are of the view that the prolonged absence of the professors hasn’t impacted their services. Butchiraju, the principal of AMC, said, “Whenever doctors are on unauthorised leave for over a month, they are notified. The vacancies are filled in the form of transfers or promotions after informing DME.” “However, there are some colleges, which are not preferred by doctors for various reasons, must have faced problems,” Butchiraju maintained.