THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Doctors of government medical colleges in the state have decided to scale up their protest against the state's decision to increase their retirement age from 60 to 62. The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) delegation will meet chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan this week to convey their strong resentment. The finance department is examining the Cabinet decision at the moment. Since the government did not have any discussions with their representatives before deciding on the retirement age, the KGMCTA and other doctors’ organisations believe that it was necessary to convey their views on the issue to the chief minister and health minister directly.
The association reiterated its demand for scrapping the decision to raise the retirement age. The government after raising the retirement age of medical college doctors from 55 to 60 in 2009, had assured that there would be no further increase. The KGMCTA firmly believes that the government decision will spoil the promotion prospects of junior faculty, severely hamper appointments at the entry grade level and break the confidence of young MBBS graduates aspiring a career in the medical education sector.
According to KGMCTA state president Dr Kavitha Ravi, it was wrong to suggest the government decision was aimed at removing the shortage of professors. “The shortage is more in the level of associate professors and at the entry grade level. MCI threat to de-recognise the courses was mainly because of the shortage of associate, assistant professors and inadequate infrastructure facilities,” she added.
Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of doctors decided to launch a campaign on all medical college campuses to create awareness among the UG and PG students about the impact of the new retirement policy. “We have decided to hold meetings on all campuses to educate the students about the issue. More than 3,500 MBBS doctors and 1,500 PG doctors pass out annually, and the increase in retirement age would hit their job prospects badly,” said JAC president Dr Rahul U. R. He said a statewide dharna against the government decision would follow the awareness campaign.
