Autonomy to KR Hospital: Doctor's clarification 

Sir,

Apropos the news item regarding autonomy to Mysore Medical College (MMC) and K.R.Hospital (SOM dated Feb. 20), the Karnataka Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) would like to clarify certain facts.

Hitherto no medical institute has an IAS Officer as the Director. Always medical teachers are appointed as Directors even in the new Medical Colleges like Mandya, Hassan, Shimoga and Bidar. Medical College teachers are the Directors, not the IAS Officers.

The Teachers Association of MMC and BMC had unanimously decided to appeal to higher authorities to stop the process of giving autonomy to MMC and BMC for following reasons:

1. MMC is the oldest medical college and has been the most prestigious institute to this date in Karnataka and in the country. Thousands of graduates from MMC have achieved great heights in their respective fields in various parts of the world including India. This status will be lost if autonomy comes into existence.

2. Giving autonomy to institutes adds an unwanted burden of creating new posts like Director, CAO, Financial Officer and sub-staff apart from incurring additional expenditure. Instead the present Principal can be given more power to streamline the administration.

3. The Government has abolished certain posts — Divisional Joint Director, Divisional Commissioner, etc.,— due to financial crunch. In such case, why new Director and other officers be appointed?

4. K.R. Hospital, Cheluvamba and P.K. Sanatorium were built by Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar with great ambition to serve the poor. Once it becomes an autonomous body, everybody need to pay for medical service.

5. The statement that doctors working in K.R. Hospital are skipping duties to do private practice is far from truth. The Government doctors are allowed to do private practice after working hours.

6. The working hours for the doctors is six hours and not eight hours. If necessary they work for more than the prescribed time. Most of the teachers working for more than two decades will be losing the promotion, if MMC becomes autonomous.