SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 4: A group of senior professors of Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) Jamshedpur and Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH) Dhanbad would jointly knock the door of the Jharkhand High Court against violation of Jharkhand Medical Education Manuals in the appointment of superintendent in the two medical colleges by the state government.
Senior professors of both the medical colleges said that since the state government has violated its own services condition for medical education, they would challenge the policy and not file the case against the persons who have been appointed.
The state government while making a major reshuffle in the administration of the medical colleges has appointed Dr Arun Kumar Barnbal ( associate professor, surgery) as Superintendent of SNMMCH Dhanbad and Dr Arun Kumar ( associate professor, radiology), as Superintendent of MGMMCH. A notification, in this regard, was issued on August 1.
“According to Jharkhand Medical Education service conditions ( Manual) notified by the then Health Secretary Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni as well as Governor of Jharkhand four years back (November 22, 2018), the senior-most among professors of the institution would be appointed as principal and the second senior-most professor as superintendent of the hospital. National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines also recommend similar rules. But the state government has overlooked the seniority of professors and appointed an associate professor as superintendent,” said a senior professor of MGMMCH, requesting not to be quoted.
As per the group of professors, there are eight professors senior to Dr Arun Kumar (new superintendent) at MGMMCH Jamshedpur while at SNMMCH Dhanbad 13 professors-Dr Sanjay Kumar Sinha, Dr UK Ojha ( medicine) Dr Rajnikant Sinha (eye) Dr Pratibha Roy ( gynecology), Dr Bijay Chandra Bannerji (pathology), Dr F Azam ( dental), Dr AK Thakur ( ENT), Dr Makradhwaj Prasad ( anatomy), Dr Arun Choudhary (pharma)- are senior to Dr Arun Kumar Barnbal (new superintendent).
A senior professor at SNMMCH, Dhanbad said both newly appointed superintendents- Dr Arun Kumar Barnbal (Dhanbad) and Dr Arun Kumar ( Jamshedpur)- are equally senior with other professors in service but they were denied promotion in time, resulting they lagged behind in the seniority list.” We would not have objected had the health department made them superintendent after promoting them to the rank of professor,” said the professor.
A senior official of the state health department said this is not the first time a junior teacher has been appointed superintendent in medical colleges of the state. In 2010 in the name of direct interview, the then health secretary DK Tiwari had appointed a junior professor as superintendent.
Moreover, in 2016, the state government had appointed doctors of the health department at MGMMCH and the then PMCH Dhanbad but then the Medical Council of India (MCI) did not recognize and the government had to remove them.
