Students of 2007 batch on strike. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, April 9: The RIMS management today made a move to tide over the shortage of faculty, which had led Medical Council of India (MCI) to cancel the admission of 90 MBBS students of the 2007 batch.

The institute published an advertisement to hold interviews of applicants for the vacant posts of teachers from April 21.

On February 1 this year, RIMS director N.N. Aggarwal had advertised vacancies for 101 posts, including those for nine professors, 40 associate professors and 23 assistant professors among others. The last date for submitting of applications was February 29.

Applications were also invited for 12 posts in the super-speciality section apart from four for general teachers. A total of 271 persons had applied for the posts on the basis of their qualification and experience.

The step has been taken in a situation, when academic activities of the institute have grinded to a halt due to an agitation by MBBS students facing rustication threat from MCI.

MCI had issued a rustication threat on March 18 when it did not find adequate numbers of teaching staffs to impart education to MBBS students on the basis of its inspection carried out in 2005.

At present, RIMS is being run with the help of four categories of doctors, including doctors appointed by department of health, family welfare and medical education, doctors appointed by RIMS, doctors appointed through Jharkhand Public Service Commission and contract doctors.

The RIMS director asserted that the total numbers of various categories of doctors were 201, which is 50 more than the requisite numbers of doctors required by MCI to run a medical institution.

He, however, admitted that as far as the experience and qualification for imparting medical education is concerned, selection is must to appoint doctors in various positions according to their merits.

In the selection procedure, there are chances of getting some of the existing doctors absorbed as majority among the applicants are those who are already serving in RIMS. “Majority of the applicants, who applied against 101 vacancies are at present working at RIMS. Hence, chances of getting old doctors absorbed is expected after the interview,” said president of Junior Doctors’ Association Abhisekh Mundu.

Sources said that the publication of the interview date has disturbed those who were waiting to be promoted. “There are many teachers at present at RIMS who can fill senior position vacancies after their promotion. In case the selection process is completed, they may lose the chance of getting higher positions in RIMS,” said sources at RIMS.

While at one hand steps are being taken to fill the vacant posts of teachers, on the other, steps are also being taken to please the MCI officials at Delhi. With this view, a three-member team of RIMS officials flew to Delhi today. The team comprised RIMS director N.N. Aggarwal, dean S.N. Choudhary and hospital superintendent I.B. Prasad.

Along with two other representatives of Junior Doctors’ Association, who left for Delhi yesterday, the team will meet MCI officials at 10.30am tomorrow.

Meanwhile, health minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi told The Telegraph attributed a communication gap between MCI and the Union health ministry behind the present crisis at RIMS.