Rohit Shishodia
The Telangana Junior Doctors Association has urged state Governor ESL Narasimhan not to promulgate any ordinance on increasing retirement age of teachers that is expected to cause huge loss to them as there will be no recruitment for the next 10 years.

The doctors have submitted a letter to the governor which details why he should not promulgate the ordinance.

The letter reads that Telangana government took unilateral and hasty proposal for increasing retirement age for teaching faculty in government teaching hospitals from 58 years to 65 years.

The government is preparing for issuance of ordinance, though no pressing issue or issues that require immediate consideration are there and without consensus among all doctors' associations.

“We bring to your notice that reason quoted by health authorities is no eligible candidates for promotion as professor and associate professor is available for next two to two and half years,” states the letter.

“If eligible candidates for promotion as professor and associate professor are not available for two years then why the retirement age hike is proposed to be 65 years instead of 60 or 61 years. The present non-availability of professor and associate professor is due to non-recruitment of assistant professors since 2011 on regular basis who would have been eligible as professor by now,” explained the doctors in the letter.

“We also came to know in meeting with health minister that deficiency of professor is only artificial as 220 professor, 204 associate professor posts are vacant where 393 associate professor and 200 assistant professors are eligible for professors and associate professors if Career Advancement Scheme is implemented,” said the doctors.

The doctors pointed out that Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahabubnagar and Siddipet Medical colleges including Gandhi, Osmania and Kakatiya are in huge deficit of nearly 1300 assistant professors which is hampering both academics for UGs and healthcare services in tertiary care hospitals.