Robust faculty recruitment could add 450 MBBS seats in J&K this year

Srinagar, Mar 29: J&K may have 450 additional MBBS seats in its pool this year, along with 333 postgraduate seats, albeit for the immediate and critical steps in the direction of bolstering infrastructure and faculty across the medical colleges, new and old.

Applications for 50 additional seats have been filed by almost all the medical colleges of J&K upon directions issued by Chief Secretary J&K in December last year. However, many administrators in these medical colleges fear the gross faculty shortages could put the approval from the National Medical Commission (NMC) in jeopardy. The NMC requires a justifiable staff-to-student ratio : one professor and multiple assistant professors per department for every 100 MBBS seats. For 150-seat college, dozens more faculty across specialties would be needed. However,  most departments of most medical colleges here struggle with a “severe dearth”. For years, faculty recruitment in GMC Srinagar and Jammu has been so tardy, bordering on being declared permanently halted, a senior official said. He said these medical colleges, if a serious and thorough inspection from NMC takes place, could risk losing some of their existing medical seats.

For newer medical colleges, recruitment has been comparatively better but finding interested candidates for remote areas like Handwara and Doda is especially tough.

Over the recent past, 50 faculty positions have been filled and 51 hired temporarily, however, this barely scratches the surface, said an insider. On the clinical side, over 275 medical officers are slated for appointment, and 582 non-gazetted vacancies—ranging from lab technicians to administrative staff—have been referred to the recruitment board. The over-reliance on academic arrangement and deputations instead of making efforts for permanent faculty is a major issue that could dash the hopes of thousands of aspirants. Infrastructure is another issue that could put a question mark over the prospects. The NMC requires that the teaching hospitals have at least 430 beds for 150 MBBS seats, along with well-equipped labs, adequate classrooms, and hostels. Older colleges like GMC Srinagar and GMC Jammu are already under duress and supporting 50 more students could be a major strain.