LARKANA, Nov 20: The principal of the Chandka Medical College (CMC) Prof Sikandar Shaikh had recommended to the chief minister regularisation of service of 65 professors and assistant professors presently working on ‘adjustment basis’, said Dr Abdul Waheed Memon, president of Larkana chapter of Pakistan Medical Association on Thursday.

He told Dawn that a PMA delegation met Sindh Law Minister Ayaz Soomro on Nov 8 and the minister promised to table a bill in the upcoming session of Sindh Assembly.

Eleven professors and 54 assistant professors had opted for working in the CMC when majority of doctors had refused to serve this peripheral medical institute, he said.

The posts of professors, associate professors and assistant professors had not been advertised by the Sindh Public Service commission for long, which was a requirement of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Dr Memon said.

The teaching staff of the college said in their representation to the minister said that majority of staff was working on what they called ‘adjustment’ and ‘allowed to work’ basis in different departments.

They feared that if the teaching staff was not regularised it could opt for going into general cadre, leading to acute shortage of teaching staff in their wake. Many of them had served a major part of their services in the college and some of them were just a few years from their retirement, he said.

He said that previous PPP government had regularised such professors and assistant professors to overcome shortage of teaching staff.

The step would not involve extra financial arrangements because they were already working and drawing pay meant for the posts, he said.

Sindh government had agreed in principle to regularise services of the teaching staff at GMMC Sukkur only to save it from de-recognition by the PMDC, the sources said.

The regularisation of teaching staff at CMC would strengthen the staff’s position and bring the college at par with the PMDC’s requirements.

GMMC Sukkur had already been included in the newly-established Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana and there would remain no disparity between the teaching staff of CMC and GMMC if the teaching staff in both medical colleges were regularised, the sources said.

DEMO: A large number of ad hoc lecturers held a demonstration on Thursday, urging the Sindh government to regularise their services.