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Chandigarh: PGIMER faculty body objects to revised seniority list, seeks review
Following examination by a high-powered committee, PGIMER had circulated an updated provisional seniority list of senior professors (HAG) on July 27, 2023
Taking exception to the new seniority list released by the PGIMER administration recently, the institute’s faculty association has demanded its review based on a “standardised set of rules and norms”.
Following examination by a high-powered committee, the institute had circulated an updated provisional seniority list of senior professors (HAG) on July 27, 2023.
As per the updated seniority list, Dr Naresh K Panda, head of ENT department, holds the top position, followed by Dr Radha Kanta Ratho from the virology department, Dr Sanjay Jain from internal medicine and Dr Surjit Singh Samlok from paediatrics. By virtue of this, Dr Panda is set to join as dean academics, a critical position at the institute.
In a similar list released by PGIMER last year, Dr Samlok was the senior most.
In May, Dr Samlok, a former officiating director of the institute, had written to the Union health minister, accusing PGIMER director Dr Vivek Lal of making “mala fide attempts” to keep him away from the dean academics post. Dr Lal has denied the allegations.
The revised seniority list was taken up by the executive committee of the PGIMER Faculty Association during a meeting on Tuesday.
Comprising around 500 doctors of the institute, the association is an influential body that deals with all matters related to the professors (faculty).
Releasing a statement thereafter, the association said, “The seniority lists of the faculty is being changed from time to time by arbitrarily changing rules of seniority.”
It cited the case of Dr Samlok whose “seniority was ratified by the central government in 2022 after due examination of rules but was overturned and a new seniority list was issued on July 27, 2023”.
“This particular event of arbitrarily changing seniorities has resulted in a lot of unrest among the faculty of PGIMER with a grave concern that their seniority might be affected as has been done in the case Dr Samlok,” the statement said.
The association said they had also written a letter to the PGIMER director regarding this, emphasising that such actions will result in chaos and anarchy within the institute, in turn affecting patient care, teaching and research.
“We strongly believe that the faculty should be given their due as per their seniority, and as per extant rules and norms laid by the constitution of the institute. Any appointment based on seniority should take into account the hierarchy as per norms,” Dr Dheeraj Khurana, president of the faculty association, said.
He added that the body was not favouring any faculty member and was only seeking a transparent mechanism.
When contacted, Dr Lal said, “There was no general body meeting of the association. It has not given any representation and the faculty members are totally unaware of the press statement. The seniority list, which stood for last 15 years and was changed a year ago, was restored by the high-powered committee on July 27. The list was uploaded on the institute website and I have not received any representation against it.”
FA demands changes in collegium system
The association also opposed the recent orders for implementing collegium system in the institution. They disagreed with inclusion of one or two representatives by dean/director and representatives of junior/senior residents in collegium meetings. The association said these suggestions were arbitrary and not part of the directions issued by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
