Now, biometrics to check on ‘ghost faculty’ at medical colleges

HYDERABAD:  Come December 1, the Medical Council of India will put a check on the notorious practice of ‘ghost faculty’ in private medical colleges. The MCI has decided to go ahead with the Online Faculty Attendance Management System (OFAMS) with immediate effect from the given date, following the biometric attendance system to mark attendance of faculty members. The biometrics will be linked to Aadhaar card. As many as 4,500 devices would be installed across the country and college managements have been asked to start biometric attendance on immediate basis. The MCI has issued a circular in this regard on Friday. 

It has been a practice among some private medical colleges to appoint a one-day faculty when MCI members come visiting for inspection. However, these members are presented before the MCI as permanent faculty. Another common practice is that of placing the names of senior or retired professors on permanent payrolls and letting a guest faculty take classes. Sources said some colleges appoint retired professors from other states and show them on payrolls.

“But the classes are taken by guest faculty who visit the college for three to four times a week,” sources added. Officials said that as per the current practice, manual attendance of faculty members is checked by MCI members during inspection. “As per earlier practise, head count of faculty was taken. This will become obsolete after introduction of OFAMS as daily attendance will be fed to servers,” a state government official said. 

Doctors said that as per rules, faculty members (professors, associate professors, and assistant professors ) are supposed to be at college from 9 am to 4 pm. Biometric attendance for house surgeons, Sr resident docs underway A similar measure to mark attendance of house surgeons (MBBS interns ) and senior resident doctors (one-year mandatory service after PG) through biometric system is underway in Telangana’s government medical colleges. On Oct 25, Telangana’s director of medical education Dr K Ramesh Reddy issued a circular to principals of state government medical colleges to instal biometric machines. 

Advisor of Junior Doctors Association (JUDAs), Dr G Srinivas said that either the biometric system should be installed for everyone or it should be scrapped. “It should be applicable for everyone which means for house surgeons, senior resident doctors, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, and for nursing staff, Class-IV employees too,” Dr Srinivas said.