HYDERABAD: In a bid to address the acute shortage of senior faculty in government medical colleges, the Telangana health secretary has approved the Director of Medical Education’s (DME) proposal to recruit associate professors and professors under the proposed “You Quote We Pay” scheme of the National Medical Commission (NMC). Once a formal proposal is submitted to the commissioner of health and family welfare, the scheme will be rolled out. Telangana is among the states that have received notices from the NMC over faculty shortages following the rapid expansion of teaching hospitals. In the “You Quote We Pay” model, the doctors could negotiate their remuneration unlike the traditional government practice of fixing salaries based on payscale. The strategy was tweaked to allow states to recruit specialists by offering negotiable salaries. Dr A. Narendra Kumar, director of medical education, told Deccan Chronicle that recruitment into the DME cadre begins only at the level of assistant professor, while associate professor and professor posts are filled through promotions. “Unless candidates are eligible, we cannot promote them. Recently, around 300 doctors were promoted as professors. We are also in the process of recruiting 2,000 assistant professors. Of these, 607 results will be released soon, and about 1,300 posts are still in the pipeline,” he said. However, Dr Narendra Kumar pointed out that the main challenge lies in filling associate professor posts. “We now have professors and assistant professors, but there is a gap at the associate professor level,” he explained. To overcome this, the government plans to attract faculty from outside through innovative policies. “There is a nationwide shortage in certain specialties such as anatomy, biochemistry and physiology. Under the ‘You Quote We Pay’ scheme, the government will offer a higher consolidated pay. For instance, if a professor currently earns around `2 lakh, the government may fix the ceiling at `6 lakh. Eligible associate professors or professors can then quote their remuneration, and the lowest bid will be selected,” he said. Dr Narendra Kumar added that proposals are ready and specialities such as radiology, cardiology, neurology, anatomy and paediatrics have been identified as high-demand areas with limited supply. He said the NMC was likely to accept this model, as attendance through the Aadhaar-based Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) establishes that lowest faculty is affecting student attendance. “The scheme will not be implemented in all medical colleges, but only where there is an urgent need. Initially, it will be rolled out in 10 medical colleges,” he added.

Original source: in