

VIJAYAWADA: The State government has promoted 63 Associate Professors to the rank of Professor, relaxing the norms set by the National Medical Council (NMC). Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav issued the promotion and posting orders on Thursday. According to NMAC guidelines, a minimum of three years of service as an Associate Professor is required for promotion. However, in view of urgent staffing needs, the State government has permitted promotions with just one year of experience. The Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) recommended the appointments across 11 clinical and two non-clinical departments.
Of the 63 newly promoted professors, 35 will be posted to newly established medical colleges, while the remaining 28 will continue in existing institutions. The government had initially approved 74 promotions, of which 63 have been finalised.
Additionally, nine Deputy Directors—some of whom had been awaiting elevation for nearly two decades—have been promoted to Joint Directors.
Furthermore, two officers from thec also received promotions, with Rajabhanu assigned to the Headquarters and Panduranga Prasad posted to Visakhapatnam.