Mumbai: Medical professors to agitate from April 1

Come April 1 agitations and court cases will be weapons the teaching faculty of four BMC hospitals and a dental college members of the Municipal Medical Teachers Association will use against BMC in opposition to an order increasing retirement age from 62 to 64 years The order has directly affected the fate of hundreds of associate and assistant professors who have been deprived of their promotions as professors and associate professors for over a decadeThe MMTA members had a recent meeting with Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and even protested at Azad Maidan on Tuesday but claimed that they are being victimised by superiors at their respective medical colleges forcing them to refrain from participating in the protest They are also being threatened with adverse remarks in their confidential service records which will ruin future prospects said a senior doctor from MMTAldquoWe have been vocal about issues that directly affect the future prospects of our teaching faculties who were COVID warriors in the true sense Instead of applauding their sacrifice this reward is being given to those who are on the verge of their retirement and are responsible for compelling the MMTA to raise their concerns thereby adversely impacting healthcare services We have no option but to move a writ petition in the Bombay High Court soon if our of demands are not fulfilledrdquo said Dr Ravindra Deokar secretary MMTA He added ldquoOut of 846 vacant posts there are 170 professor posts vacant from the MPSCrsquos siderdquoAlso Read Mumbai City gardens to get toilets drinking water assures CM Eknath ShindeMMTA members met civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal on TuesdayMMTA has alleged that the deans of the civicrun medical colleges wrote a selfrecommendation letter to increase the age from 62 to 64 years on February 27 2023 and got it approved by Chahal who used his discretionary powers the very next day ldquoWe are vehemently opposing thisrdquo said Dr Roshan Wade associate professor at KEM hospital and joint secretary MMTA However Dr Mohan Joshi dean of LTMG hospital has refuted these claimsLTMG hospital dean reactsAsked about the reason for a writing selfrecommendation letter to increase the age of deans and getting it approved at lightning speed Dr Joshi one of the letterrsquos signatories said ldquoThe fact is that it is not about increasing the age of mere deans but of every teaching faculty in municipal medical colleges Moreover the decision to increase the age of deans and others in civicrun medical colleges and hospitals was mooted long ago by our predecessors and the decision has only come now after a lot of consideration at both the civic and state government level which we are obliged to acceptrdquoDr Wade however said ldquoIt was during the pandemic era that Chahal used his discretionary power and gave an extension of one year of service citing COVID and assured the agitating MMTA union that there wouldnrsquot be any further extension of age Also the same civic commissioner passed an order stating that senior teaching faculties at medical colleges above 55 years would not be working in COVID wards So giving an extension of an additional year was meaningless and a waste of manpowerrdquoOn vacanciesDr Joshi stated ldquoWe have 846 vacant posts under the MPSC at different levels and we must understand that one professorrsquos post lying vacant means stalling nine postgraduate studentsrsquo entry which will diminish drastically if this continued At present the intake of undergraduate students at LTMG has been increased from 60 to 200 KEM 180 to 250 Nair 180 to 200 and Cooper 100 to 200 We are in the process of filling teaching faculty vacanciesrdquoWhen informed that vacancies have been piling up over the years since 2003 in civicrun medical colleges Dr Joshi downplayed the issue stating ldquoWe cannot have temporary teachers who as per norms have to be put on a break after completion of two or three years and hence will be soon opting for hiring themrdquoDr Wade said ldquoIt is surprising that statistical data on vacancies are used as per the dean and directorsrsquo convenience The fact is that MPSC had given a waiver in the recruitment policy to the BMC between 2018 and 2021 wherein the civic body could directly recruit assistant professors associate professors and professors easily filling posts And it was only in 2022 after the MPSC chairman was appointed that the waiver was withdrawnAsked whether it was correct to deprive juniors of promotions by extending onersquos tenure Dr Mohan Joshi said ldquoWe the deans are the academic planners of medical education and medical health system I am 200 per cent certain and I accept the decision of the BMC and government which is at par with other state government practices and it is in the larger interest of enhancing medical education and medical services Only a few teaching faculty members associated with MMTA mostly from KEM are agitating and using the media to raise their concerns which is not correctrdquoDr Wade said ldquoThe working conditions and service rules for state and civicrun medical colleges are completely different Moreover this clearly shows that the deans are selfcentric and the extension of age has been done purely out of selfinterest motive Speaking our concern in the public domain is our fundamental right and therefore the MMTA association has been formed to raise collective concernsrdquoWill extension really helpAsked how two additional years will help overcome the crises Dr Mohan Joshi said ldquoI have chalked out a lot of plans for the improvement of the existing systems For instance four new postgraduate seats in Surgical Gastro Superspeciality in Nephrology Blood transfusions Hematologic Oncology etc have already been started this academic year at LTMG Also due to our collective efforts 85 DNB seats were created in six peripheral hospitals in the suburbs of which 70 seats have been approved and 15 are expected soon Also construction work for setting up a new nursing college LTMG a has nursing school to increase the ward capacity to 3000 from the present 1750 is underway and will be completed in the next five yearsrdquoldquoAlso the civic corporation has sanctioned R60 crore to start with construction work for a groundplus12 floor radiation oncology centre and we are in the process of obtaining required permissions from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board The building will have wards ICUs and operation theatres for oncology treatmentrdquo explained Dr Joshi According to Dr Wade KEM and other civicrun hospitals were once amongst the topmost institutes in the country but have fallen drastically in terms of national rankingldquoIt is a wellestablished practice in all the topmost central medical colleges including AIIMS wherein the deans director heads of department and all administrative posts are relinquished after the age of 60 years and occupants are then given an extension Also when we as an association raise our concerns openly we lack open support of our members as they are threatened and victimised which is not possible in a central institute as the administrative duties have to mandatorily relinquish their post at the age of 60 Then the HOD or dean or director has to work under his junior they therefore cannot victimise anyonerdquoMeanwhile Dr Sanjeev Kumar additional commissioner public health said ldquoWe will sit with MMTA members and discuss their issues We will see to it that hospital services are not hampered and people are not inconveniencedrdquoMMTArsquos demandsgtgt Immediate cancellation of circular on retirement age extensiongtgt Relinquishment of all administrative posts at age of 58gtgt Immediate mplementation of revised timebound promotions scheme in BMCgtgt Immediate recruitment to all vacant professor associate and assistant professor postsSource Dr Ravindra Deokar secretary MMTA846No of vacant posts under MPSC