Patna, Jan. 27: The two-member committee constituted for recommendations on the appointment of medical teachers has suggested large-scale promotion of the present cadres to generate posts of assistant professors before filling up vacancies.

The two-member committee submitted its report to the health department recently.

N.P. Yadav, the controller of medical examinations, health department, and one of the members of the committee told The Telegraph that assistant professors should be promoted to the level of associate professors while associate professors should be made professors before regular appointments are made at the level of assistant professors.

“The appointment process by the department has been very haphazard in the past few years. Without taking into consideration the chain of promotions, people are being hired on contract for the posts of associate professors, which has completely sent the system out of gear. Things need to be streamlined. There should be time-bound promotions as well as biennial or annual appointment in the rank of assistant professors,” said Yadav.

During meetings of the committee set up in the first week of this month, Yadav said, it was found out that several assistant and associate professors had not been promoted for 10-15 years.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said: “The government is serious to make amendments now. We want to strengthen our medical colleges and that is why the committee was constituted. We will consider their recommendations and implement them,” he said.

The minister added that about 10 associate professors were promoted to the rank of professors in various medical colleges in the past one week.

The state at present has 1,200 medical teachers, including those on contract. There is 30-35 per cent shortage of faculty in most of the six medical colleges.

The situation is grim at Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, and Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, where over 50 per cent seats of teachers are vacant. At Patna Medical College and Hospital, the vacancy percentage is about 28.

The state government is yet to appoint teachers for the three upcoming medical colleges at Pawapuri, Bettiah and Madhepura. Medical Council of India members can inspect them any time next month.