Hyderabad: Retirement blues haunt NIMS senior professors

Hyderabad: Telangana government has hiked retirement age of teaching faculty in government medical colleges in Telangana from 58 to 65 years in last June so that quality of medical education is not affected due to lack of senior professors and at the same time number of PG seats do not face a cut due to shortage of professors.

Eight months on since this decision has been taken, but its implementation is yet to start in NIMS (Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences), Panjagutta.

Already three senior professors ( Dr GSN Raju (Surgical Oncology), Dr Vijayalakshmi (Dermatology), Dr Naina Joshi (Medical Gastroenterology) have retired in the last 6 months and another three senior professors from Urology, Radiology and Clinical Pharmacology) will be attaining superannuation age (which is 60 years at present in NIMS) in the coming 5 to 6 months.

Nearly 25 to 30 senior professors are likely to retire by 2022, which would leave a big vacuum in the premier medical institution in the State. Unless the senior faculty are retained by increasing the age limit, as done in other medical institutions, the quality of medical education and the number of PG seats are bound to get affected.

Another big problem is the impact on medical care and treatment and conducting complex surgeries like kidney transplantation that are conducted by senior professors.

And the sufferers are mostly the poor, lower and middle-class sections that make use of medical facilities here which are affordable compared to corporate hospital costs that dent a hole in pockets.

NIMS Urology department conducts a record number of 120 to 150 kidney transplantation surgeries in a year and majority of poor patients and Aarogyasri beneficiaries with kidney ailments flock this hospital as no other State hospital does these complex surgeries on regular basis.

Two senior professors from this department conduct this operation and one of them (Dr Ch Ram Reddy) is set to retire in July unless the age hike decision is implemented here.

NIMS faculty association has represented the issue to higher-ups in the government multiple times in last few months, but still there is no progress so far.

The Resident Doctors' Association led by Dr G Srinivas called on Health Minister Eatala Rajender on Saturday and apprised him of this issue and the need to implement the age hike decision in NIMS at the earliest.

It is learnt that NIMS administration is citing approval and ratification of Executive Board and the Governing Council to start implementing this new rule.

However, senior professors claim that age hike G.O clearly mentions medical autonomous institutions (which happens to be only NIMS in Telangana) and hence can be implemented without further procedural formalities.

They expressed their displeasure over inordinate delay in retirement age hike implementation by the NIMS administration.