Protesting medical college employees asked to join duty

SWABI: The rivalry between the dean/chief executive of Gajju Khan Medical College and teachers has intensified as the faculty has been demanding his removal.

However, a press release issued by administration of the college on Friday said that there would be no compromise on attendance, saying that all faculty members should perform duty in accordance with the rules. The press release quoting the dean of the college said that the salary to the employees had not been stopped and they were getting paid as per the rules.

“As to ensure smooth operations and maintain attendance record, biometric attendance machines have been installed in both the hospital and the college. Salaries are released based on the biometric attendance data of the employees,” he said. Regarding the replacement of Heads of Departments (HoDs), he said that no professor had been sacked and the decision of the HoDs’ appointment was made in compliance with the rules of the Medical Teaching Institute Act (MTI) which stipulated that the HoD positions were reserved for officers, who had opted for MTI or were hired through MTI.

Consequently, the HoDs of the departments concerned were replaced by MTI employees who were given additional responsibilities as HoDs. It should be noted that the previous HoDs are working as faculty members in their appropriate scale/rank. About the issue of leave, he said that the majority of the faculty members of a certain department took unapproved leave on May, 10 and 11, therefore he was asked to explain the reason for this.

During this period, according to a government notification, institutes were closed for students but not for faculty members. The management subsequently adjusted the absence of the faculty as casual leave upon submission of their applications to the management. Prof Dr Shams-Ur-Rehman explained that pick-and-drop service to other cities was only being provided as a favour to the faculty and employees on the understanding that the vehicles would be provided by the college and the fuel charges would be managed by the users.

However, issues such as delayed contribution for fuel, late arrivals, and absenteeism led to the discontinuation of this service. The management declared that the door for discussion and negotiation remained open and urged the protesting faculty to consider the importance of the student’s time. On the other hand, the faculty was not in the mood to hold talks and continued to boycott of the classes.