New Delhi: Almost 200 non-medical teachers and students pursuing medical MSc courses across India will be converging at Jantar Mantar, Parliament Street, New Delhi under the banner of the National M.Sc Medical Teachers' Association (NMMTA) on 20th March 2021 to protest against the reduction and exclusion of medical M.Sc and Ph.D. teachers in the medical colleges by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
team had earlier reported that NMC issued a gazetted notification on 28 October 2020 titled "minimum requirement for annual MBBS admission regulations, 2020" and the percentage of non-medical teachers in the three clinical specialities of anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology had been halved from 30 to 15 % whereas the nonmedical teachers had been completely eliminated from para clinical specialities of pharmacology and microbiology.
For biochemistry, the hiring limit was a whopping 50 per cent which got jolted down to 15 per cent. Moreover, the new regulations made no such specifications on the ceiling for pharmacology and microbiology. As per the previous MCI norms, up to 30% (50% in Biochemistry) of faculty in the non-clinical subjects could be scientists with medical M.Sc/Ph.D qualifications.
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The association alleged that the move came in line with the demand of a major section of the medical fraternity that was rooting for phasing out of the non-MBBS teachers from medical colleges. The move had sparked fear of joblessness among the MSc medical teachers.
The association made submissions to several authorities including officials of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Niti Aayog to reinstate the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI) norm regarding the appointment of Non-MBBS teachers, however, no steps were taken by the authorities to address their grievances.
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Aggravated by the non-action of the authorities to date, the association has now decided to hold the protest at Jantar Mantar on 20th March.
In a letter recently sent to the concerned authorities, NMMTA pointed out, " This association had already written to you several times regarding the reduction and exclusion of non-medical teachers in the non-clinical disciplines by the NMC in its guidelines. We have explained in clearest terms why this move is flawed and not in the best interest of medical education and non-medical teachers. Several pleas and representations made by this association or its members have been ignored."
The association further added, " None of our letters/emails are ever replied by the Health Ministry or the NMC. Grievances filed with PM or PG portal are dismissed by the NMC without any redressal. Our requests for personal appointments too have been ignored. With no choice left, we are forced to protest in the open. More than 200 'non-medical teachers (professors, associate professors, assistant professors and tutors) and students pursuing Medical M.Sc courses from all over India will be converging at Jantar Mantar, Parliament Street, New Delhi on 20th March 2021."
The association has also asked the concerned authority to visit the protesters at Jantar Mantar or to depute representatives to hear the grievances of the protesting teachers and medicos.
" We believe that the teachers from medical colleges coming from all over India deserve this courtesy. It will also be an honor to receive you or your representative", the association added.