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PU senate may take call on promotion policy for dental institute faculty
With PU’s Institute of Dental Sciences faculty members seeking implementation of the DACP scheme, promotion policy is expected to come up in PU senate’s March 27 meeting
The long-pending promotion policy for the faculty members of Panjab University’s Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital is expected to come up in the March 27 meeting of the varsity’s senate.
A committee constituted by vice-chancellor (V-C) Raj Kumar in this regard met on Tuesday and deliberated over the implementation of the Union health and family welfare ministry’s Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) scheme for the dental faculty.
The committee was constituted after the senate, in a January meeting, authorised the V-C to give a hearing to the dental faculty members.
The members of the committee, it is learnt, were of the view that if the DACP is implemented, it should be in uniformity with the university rules. They also proposed the addition of some more members in the committee.
Seeking implementation of the DACP scheme, the faculty members of the dental college have maintained that the scheme has already been enforced for medical/dental university teachers in all universities across the country, having own medical or dental institute.
In May 2019, 37 faculty members had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, arguing that PU had framed a promotion policy/career advancement scheme as per regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) for faculty of all colleges. But the same benefit was not being given to faculty of the dental institute.
Thereafter, HC, in its June 2019 order, had directed PU and the Dental Council of India (DCI) to decide on a promotion policy for the dental faculty.
In its meeting in July 2020, the PU syndicate had resolved to approve the report of the committee, which was formed in 2019 to give suggestions regarding the policy.
The report had recommended that the existing policy should continue, as it already had promotional avenues. The varsity had also submitted the report before the high court in response to the dental faculty’s petition. However, deliberating on the matter in January, the governing body did not approve the report and authorised the V-C to form a new panel to take up the matter and make recommendations.
