Bhattacharjee: Making amends

Calcutta, May 8: The state plans to recruit doctors from private institutions here and abroad into the faculty of government-run teaching hospitals across Bengal.

?There is a genuine dearth of quality teachers in the state’s government hospitals,? chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted today while inaugurating a private hospital off EM Bypass.

?We are looking at ways to attract quality individuals now working in private medical institutions here and abroad. Anybody with the right credentials and the willingness to teach at a government hospital is welcome.?

On Friday, the CPM had okayed a plan to raise the non-practising allowance for teacher-doctors at government hospitals and allow doctors in the state medical education service to practise privately after office hours.

The chief minister’s announcement comes a day after the government took out advertisements stating it was looking for teachers of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, forensic medicine, radio-diagnosis, nephrology, community medicine and haematology.

?There is a huge vacancy and the government can look to hire guest lecturers if getting quality teachers from private centres on a permanent basis is not possible,? said Moloy Patra, a senior functionary at the Indian Medical Association.

The government wants to fill over 128 vacancies at once by recruiting 33 professors, 46 assistant professors and 49 associate professors.

?The difficult part will be to get teachers for the non-clinical subjects like anatomy and physiology. We must look to entice quality teachers from other states, or even abroad, with a good pay packet,? observed Subir Ganguly, head of department of radiotherapy at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.

It was not immediately clear how the government plans to get around the strict Medical Council of India (MCI) rules relating to the appointment of teachers, especially from the private sector.

As of now, the rules do not allow appointment of private teachers to part-time positions on the faculty of a state-run medical college. Such teachers can be appointed as guest lecturers, and that, too, only after all the vacancies have been filled up.