Private medical colleges based out of Punjab are facing the problem of severe faculty shortage for some time now. Despite this, the issue has not been acted upon by the state government or the medical associations.

There are several reasons that have contributed to the departure of the teaching faculty in the private colleges in the case of Punjab. As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) rules, the maximum age limit up to which a person can be appointed or granted an extension or re-employed in service as teachers or dean or principal or director, in any medical college shall be 70 years.

Consequently, because of this absence, the students would suffer and not get a quality education. Dr. Karamvir Goyal, Vice President of the Indian Medical Association believes that the age limit should be extended to at least 75 years for teaching in private college. "At present, there is no solution to the problem of faculty fleeing private colleges. But, increasing their retirement age will definitely help," said Goyal.

There are a total of five private medical institutions that are short of at least 100 teaching faculty in Punjab. These colleges include Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Jalandhar, Sri Guru Ram Dass Medical College in Amritsar, Adesh Medical College and Hospital in Bathinda, Dayanand Medical College and Christian Medical College in Ludhiana. Dr. AS Sekhon, Punjab Medical Council (PMC) president, says that there are a total of 103 vacancies of teaching faculty in private colleges.

However, the retirement age is not the only reason why these doctor-teachers are quickly exiting the private medical college space. The doctors also complain about the low and irregular remuneration that they receive in these private institutions as compared to the government medical colleges. This is why it is mostly the retired government doctors who start teaching in private institutions. While salary in private college could be anywhere between Rs. 1.20 lakh to Rs. 1.65 lakh per month in a private medical college, the government institutions pay a senior faculty member over Rs. 2.5 lakh per month.

Dr. Amandeep Aggarwal, Chairman Action Committee-cum-Legal cell of IMA, Punjab, says that it is not only the pay disparity and age that is causing an exodus of faculty members from the private institutions but sometimes also the interference, long working hours and even assault on doctors inside private hospitals."It has been seen that private medical colleges in many cases flout the government norms and do not appoint faculty as required thus putting the already present faculty under pressure," added Dr. Aggarwal.

While the doctors who retire from government medical colleges and then join private institutions do not face financial issues due to the pension they receive, the ones who are young and dependent on their private jobs are the ones who have to face the pressures. Therefore, several doctors work in private clinics to supplement their income. Dr. Amit who works in a private clinic in Ludhiana said, "Due to the irregular pay from the college where I teach, I have to depend on my private clinic. There are times when the payment is delayed for two months. With a wife and two children in an expensive city like Ludhiana, I cannot completely depend on the college."

He revealed that he earns nearly Rs. 35,000 per month from his clinic. Dr. Amit started his clinic in August 2017 and is struggling to get more patients as it is a general clinic. He claims that dentists and other specialists are even earning more than Rs 2 lakh a month from their clinics.

Dr. AS Sekhon said that the lack of faculty in private colleges has multi-faceted reasons. He explained that while the cost of running a private medical college with all norms in place is very high, the cost of a seat in private colleges in Punjab is not that high like other parts of the country. "The state government has put a cap on fees of students admitted under the management quota in private colleges. This results in financial instability further causing delays in payment and other benefits to the staff,” said Sekhon.

As per the Medical Council of India rules, there are conditions like a specific number of OPDs, deliveries and even bed occupancy that needs to be achieved by a medical college in a certain time period. Failure to do this could invite the wrath of MCI and where the medical institution can even lose its license. However, Sekhon admits that to fulfill all these criteria, the institutions need a lot of capital. He also emphasised on the added pressure borne by those doctors who are already employed.

Dr. Goyal too agreed that running a private medical college is a costly affair. "The government should provide subsidy and concessions to the private players," he said. He further explains that measures like salary hike and regular pay, accommodation, upgraded equipment at disposal and regular CME courses along with other benefits could help retain faculty in private colleges.

This story was contributed by Arjun Sharma, a Ludhiana-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.