July 21: A professor of gynaecology at Nagpur, who was restrained from joining duty because of failing health and who subsequently applied for voluntary retirement last year, is suddenly told to join duty at the JJ hospital in Mumbai. A professor of radiology, who has not attended work for last seven years and has been working for a private hospital all this while, gets transferred to Nagpur. In an unprecedented move, a junior teacher is appointed to head the Grant Medical College. The Intensive Cardiac Care Unit (ICCU) at the St George Hospital is shut down suddenly for reasons best known to the authorities.All's not well with the Medical Education Department despite it being headed by two qualified doctors - Health Minister Dr Daulatrao Aher, a surgeon by profession, and his deputy Dr Vijaykumar Gavit, a former professor of medicine.Professor of Gynaecology at Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, Pushpa Gurtu, was shocked when she received her transferorders last month.It was only last year that she was restrained from attending work due to her failing health and now she was being told to join duty in Mumbai. Gurtu had stopped attending office from July 12, 1997 after she was declared medically unfit by a medical board. She had even applied for voluntary retirement. It wasn't a clerical mistake. In a parallel instance the Medical Education Department filed a caveat before the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) to ensure that she was not able to obtain a stay on her transfer. ``Gurtu's transfer order was issued without application of mind. It is a well known fact that for a long time she has not been keeping well and has sought voluntary retirement. Under such circumstances transferring her was not only illegal, but inhuman too,'' a senior teacher told Express Newsline.``On one hand I am considered medically unfit to do my work at the Government Medical College, and on the other I am being asked to join duty at the JJ Hospital,''Gurtu pointed out in a letter to Medical Education Secretary Thomas Benjamin.Professor of Radiology M N Ambhore's case is rather amusing. He has been transferred to Nagpur from J J Hospital despite the fact he hasn't attended work at JJ for over seven years now. Ambhore was posted at the JJ Hospital on April 15, 1991. He, however, did not join duty and sought voluntary retirement on April 20, 1991. Subsequently, he joined a private medical college in Nagpur, where he was recognised as a teacher as per the prescribed Medical Council of India norms. Ambhore's name now figures in the list of medical teachers transferred by the alliance government. ``It is true that he did not join the JJ Hospital in 1991 and that he was absent for seven years. We are looking into the case,'' a senior official said.The department has bungled even in appointment of a dean. A junior professor has been appointed the dean of the Grant Medical College. ``As per the rules, the senior-most professor is appointed to head theinstitution till an alternate arrangement is made,'' a teacher said.And its not only a and transfers. Medical teachers were shocked by the recent communication from Cardiology Professor Lekha Pathak, who informed the Dean that the ICCU attached to the St George Hospital was being closed and the staff there was being shifted to the Grant Medical College. ``It was improper for the department to close the ICCU without prior notice. We wonder if it is the decision of the government or the department of cardiology,'' a teacher remarked.
