Appoint sr faculty as patron to PG students: DMER to colleges

Nagpur: In the wake of media reports after the suicide of PG medical student Dr Payal Tadvi in Mumbai, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), on Wednesday, has issued circulars to all government medical and dental colleges, and hospitals in state to ensure that anti-ragging cells are functioning properly and under the supervision of a senior professor in their institutions.
“The institutions should strictly follow the anti-ragging policies of the state government as well as all the recommendations of the Medical Council of India (MCI) and submit the report of the college-level anti-ragging panel to the DMER,” reads the circular issued by director of DMER Dr TP Lahane.
The circular further asks colleges to conduct monthly meetings of the anti-ragging committees regularly and ensure that the grievances of post graduate students get resolved immediately. The HoDs and deans have been told to ensure that no intern doctor should be overburdened with work.
The DMER has also asked colleges to appoint a senior-most faculty as patron of post graduate students so that they can directly report their grievances to the professor. “This system was already in place for the undergraduate (UG) students. But, now, we have been asked to follow the same pattern for the PG students too,” said a senior academician from a government medical college in Vidarbha.
The DMER has asked colleges to encourage professors to accept the responsibility of patronship.
In addition, the colleges have been asked to appoint a psychological counsellor for students. “In case the psychological counsellor is not available, colleges must appoint a senior principal from the psychology department for this task. This professor should conduct monthly meetings with the PG students and give them counselling in case of any problems,” states the circular.