On UCMS
Established in 1971, the University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) is the oldest and most prestigious medical college functioning under the aegis of Delhi University. It is ranked 7th among all the nationally important medical colleges. However, the ill-treatment meted out to it by DU in recent times, has caused severe alienation and trust deficit among its medical faculty.
The administration of UCMS has always been subjected to a peculiar dual-command. While its academic departments, teaching and research program are under DU, its hospital the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital functions under the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT). Among its medical faculty of a total of 180 teaching-doctors, 150 have been appointed by DU and their service conditions are governed by DU Ordinances. The rest 30 are appointed under the Central Health Services (CHS).
The problems arising out of its dual-command authority were formally recognized in 2002 when the Delhi High Court recommended a “unified command” authority for the entire institution. Prior to this, its faculty and students had made a long-standing demand of an autonomous public hospital – on lines similar to AMU and BHU – which could function under DU. However, following the High Court Judgment, the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT) showed an interest in entirely taking over the UCMS. It drew up a proposal and sent it to the Union Cabinet for vetting. In 2005, the Cabinet approved of the Govt. of Delhi’s proposal and sent it to DU. The DU Executive Council rejected the proposal as it was sketchy and inconclusive about most details, including the academic vision of the institution and the service conditions of the medical faculty. DU asked the then-President of India, as Visitor, to intervene and set aside the Cabinet approval for the Govt. of Delhi’s proposal of a takeover. The Visitor considered the DU Executive Council’s objections and refused to repeal the DU Ordinance on UCMS in 2007, thereby resulting in a halt in any further progress on the issue.
Meanwhile the service conditions of DU-appointed doctors deteriorated and their grievances multiplied without any positive response from the DU administration. DU replaced a qualified and eminent doctor with the Pro-VC as the head of the Governing Council of UCMS. The Pro-VC refused to engage with the aspirations and demands of the faculty and students. This state of neglect reached a peak when the Dynamic Assured Promotion Scheme (DAPS) was introduced for all medical doctors in 2008. While the CHS cadre of doctors at UCMS started getting the benefits of the scheme in a timely manner, DU put its implementation in cold-storage. Despite several demands for its implementation made by the medical fraternity and DUTA from time to time, the current VC and PVC ignored the need to implement the DAPS. As a result, majority of the UCMS faculty were allowed to languish while the 30 CHS-cadre doctors got rapidly promoted. This disparity was the last straw in the patience with which the UCMS faculty was holding on to DU.
The recent times have seen a steady escalation of frustration among the DU-appointed medical faculty at the UCMS, leading to resignations by an alarming number of doctors. The newspapers had recently reported a mass resignation of 41 doctors from the UCMS. Despite this, the DU Administration remained unmoved. Its apathy was eventually broken by a renewed attempt, on the part of the Government of India, to make DU hand UCMS over to the Govt. of Delhi (NCT). In response to a GOI letter forwarding the same old proposal and seeking compliance, the DU VC unilaterally agreed to transfer UCMS to the Govt. of Delhi. The letter was not reported in the Executive Council till as late as 9 January 2015. This scandalous indifference to the plight of the UCMS faculty and their service conditions is the sole reason why Delhi University has come very close to losing its prestigious medical college. With the intervention of 5 members in the Executive Council (including both elected teachers’ representatives, Abha Dev Habib and Aditya Narayan Mishra), DU has finally agreed to consider implementing the DAPS for the UCMS faculty. This may be a ‘goodbye gesture’ unless there is strong resistance shown by the UCMS faculty against the Delhi Govt. takeover.
The DUTA is sensitive to the apprehensions of the UCMS faculty about their rights and service conditions if this glorious institution is transferred to the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT). Such a transfer is undesirable also in the sense that Delhi University may stand to lose an important medical college due to the sheer apathy of its administrators and prime officials. As one of the most significant central universities in the nation, DU is expected to promote cutting-edge public-funded education and research in clinical and non-clinical disciplines. Hence, the DUTA urges Delhi University and the Government of India to rethink the current situation, allow the UCMS to carry on under Delhi University and accede to the following demands:
The administration of UCMS has always been subjected to a peculiar dual-command. While its academic departments, teaching and research program are under DU, its hospital the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital functions under the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT). Among its medical faculty of a total of 180 teaching-doctors, 150 have been appointed by DU and their service conditions are governed by DU Ordinances. The rest 30 are appointed under the Central Health Services (CHS).
The problems arising out of its dual-command authority were formally recognized in 2002 when the Delhi High Court recommended a “unified command” authority for the entire institution. Prior to this, its faculty and students had made a long-standing demand of an autonomous public hospital – on lines similar to AMU and BHU – which could function under DU. However, following the High Court Judgment, the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT) showed an interest in entirely taking over the UCMS. It drew up a proposal and sent it to the Union Cabinet for vetting. In 2005, the Cabinet approved of the Govt. of Delhi’s proposal and sent it to DU. The DU Executive Council rejected the proposal as it was sketchy and inconclusive about most details, including the academic vision of the institution and the service conditions of the medical faculty. DU asked the then-President of India, as Visitor, to intervene and set aside the Cabinet approval for the Govt. of Delhi’s proposal of a takeover. The Visitor considered the DU Executive Council’s objections and refused to repeal the DU Ordinance on UCMS in 2007, thereby resulting in a halt in any further progress on the issue.
Meanwhile the service conditions of DU-appointed doctors deteriorated and their grievances multiplied without any positive response from the DU administration. DU replaced a qualified and eminent doctor with the Pro-VC as the head of the Governing Council of UCMS. The Pro-VC refused to engage with the aspirations and demands of the faculty and students. This state of neglect reached a peak when the Dynamic Assured Promotion Scheme (DAPS) was introduced for all medical doctors in 2008. While the CHS cadre of doctors at UCMS started getting the benefits of the scheme in a timely manner, DU put its implementation in cold-storage. Despite several demands for its implementation made by the medical fraternity and DUTA from time to time, the current VC and PVC ignored the need to implement the DAPS. As a result, majority of the UCMS faculty were allowed to languish while the 30 CHS-cadre doctors got rapidly promoted. This disparity was the last straw in the patience with which the UCMS faculty was holding on to DU.
The recent times have seen a steady escalation of frustration among the DU-appointed medical faculty at the UCMS, leading to resignations by an alarming number of doctors. The newspapers had recently reported a mass resignation of 41 doctors from the UCMS. Despite this, the DU Administration remained unmoved. Its apathy was eventually broken by a renewed attempt, on the part of the Government of India, to make DU hand UCMS over to the Govt. of Delhi (NCT). In response to a GOI letter forwarding the same old proposal and seeking compliance, the DU VC unilaterally agreed to transfer UCMS to the Govt. of Delhi. The letter was not reported in the Executive Council till as late as 9 January 2015. This scandalous indifference to the plight of the UCMS faculty and their service conditions is the sole reason why Delhi University has come very close to losing its prestigious medical college. With the intervention of 5 members in the Executive Council (including both elected teachers’ representatives, Abha Dev Habib and Aditya Narayan Mishra), DU has finally agreed to consider implementing the DAPS for the UCMS faculty. This may be a ‘goodbye gesture’ unless there is strong resistance shown by the UCMS faculty against the Delhi Govt. takeover.
The DUTA is sensitive to the apprehensions of the UCMS faculty about their rights and service conditions if this glorious institution is transferred to the Govt. of Delhi (GNCT). Such a transfer is undesirable also in the sense that Delhi University may stand to lose an important medical college due to the sheer apathy of its administrators and prime officials. As one of the most significant central universities in the nation, DU is expected to promote cutting-edge public-funded education and research in clinical and non-clinical disciplines. Hence, the DUTA urges Delhi University and the Government of India to rethink the current situation, allow the UCMS to carry on under Delhi University and accede to the following demands:
- Immediate implementation of DAPS and start of long overdue promotions of medical faculty at UCMS under DAPS.
- Formation of a University-level Committee to study and report on the long-pending demands and grievances of the UCMS doctors.
- Commission of an autonomous Hospital functioning under the Governing Council of UCMS
- Replacement of the PVC by a qualified and eminent medical practitioner as the Chairperson of the Governing Council of UCMS.
| NANDITA NARAIN President, DUTA |
ANITA GHOSH Jt. Secretary, DUTA |
https://duta.live
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