Punjab: It is nothing short of a miracle that despite 82 per cent of the posts of faculty members, including professors, associate professors and assistant professors, being vacant, the recognition of the government dental college and hospital here has not been cancelled by the Dental Council of India. Sources in the college revealed that every year the state government submits an affidavit to the council that all deficiencies, including shortage of faculty, will be removed to save the college from de-recognition. What is worrying is that the state of medical education of the 250 students enrolled in BDS and about 15 students in MDS courses can be gauged from the fact that four out of the total 10 departments of the college do not have a single teacher. Besides, three departments are running with the help of single teachers. Apart from affecting education and patient care, the premier dental institution, established in 1952, is unable to enrol students even in postgraduate courses as the number of postgraduate students getting admission in any college is directly related to the number of senior faculty members available.
Senior faculty act as academic guides for postgraduate students. For every professor, the college can enroll two postgraduate students, while for the number of associate professors and assistant professors, one can be enrolled each. The inability to enroll more students in MDS courses also leads to loss of revenue. “The staff shortage is going from bad to worse as employees are retiring and no efforts are being made for fresh recruitment,” said Jagdish Thakur, general secretary of the Punjab State Ministerial Employees Union, who is also an employee at the college. Thakur said apart from faculty, there is a shortage of staff in administrative departments. From a faculty shortage of around 40 per cent in 2010 to 60 per cent in 2018, it reached a peak last year, with the shortage reaching 86 per cent last year. However, while the college got two faculty members under the PCMS quota recently, it still has a long way to go. Principal Renu Bala Saroa said the college had apprised the Directorate of Health and Medical Education of the situation. A letter was sent again a few days ago. “We have been promised that more faculty members will join soon,” he said.
