Shortage of Faculty in Nursing, Dental and Medical Colleges

The requirement of teaching faculty in any nursing/dental/medical college, which fall under the purview of the respective Councils, viz. Indian Nursing Council(INC), Dental Council of India (DCI) and Medical Council of India(MCI), is determined by the regulations framed by the respective Councils. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has its own norms. Based on these regulations/norms, recruitment is made by the Central/State Governments, Universities and the Institutions concerned and there is, as such, no monitoring of faculty positions centrally. 

However, as per the information furnished by the three Councils, there is no shortage of faculty in the dental colleges in the country as per the DCI.MCI has informed that there is a varying degree of shortage of teachers in the medical colleges though they do not have any specific information in this regard. The Indian Nursing Council has informed that there is a shortage of MSc (Nursing) qualified teaching faculty in the country. AIIMS New Delhi has informed that there is no shortage of teaching faculty in the Institute. 

The measures taken by the MCI and the INC to meet the shortage of faculty inter-alia include the following: 

1. The teacher student ratio in postgraduate medical courses has been increased to 1:2. The ratio has further been increased to 1:3 for some specialities such as Anaesthesiology, Forensic Science and Radio-therapy. 

2. Age limit for appointment/extension/re-employment against posts of teachers/ dean/principal/director in medical colleges has been enhanced from 65 to 70 years 

3. DNB qualifications have also been recognized for appointment to various faculty posts in medical colleges. 

4. Teacher student ratio has been increased from 1:5 to 1:10 for MSc (Nursing) programme. 

5. Age limit increased for teaching faculty of nursing up to 70 years. 

6. Super specialty hospitals can start MSc (Nursing) course without having under graduate programme. 

7. Ratio of teachers to students for guide thesis for MSc (Nursing) students has been relaxed from 1:4 to 1:5. 

This information was given by the Minister for Health & Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today. 

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(Release ID :95683)