After making headlines for its demand for deemed university status, the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, is in the news again. The controversy this time surrounds the Career Advancement Scheme (re-designation in higher cadre) launched by the UT Administration for its faculty members.

A local doctor has approached the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), New Delhi, against the UT Administrator’s office after she claimed to have not received a satisfactory reply to a query on the scheme, filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The applicant, Dr Alka Sehgal, had asked the Administration to provide the date and diary number of the receipt of the official file pertaining to the scheme.

Asking if the scheme had been withdrawn in accordance with the recommendations of the Department of Personnel, the doctor sought information on the relevant extracts and copies of rules/legislative provisions and other notifications under which recruitment rules for Group A officers of the UT, who are selected and also promoted through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), can be modified by the Administrator.

Many of the faculty members at GMCH-32 are holding dual designations — one according to the UPSC list and another according to the re-designation scheme of the Chandigarh Administration.

In reply to her queries, Joint Secretary (Home) and Central Public Information Officer (Administrator’s office) Bhupinder Singh only mentioned that after the recommendation by the Department of Personnel, further action was to be taken by the Secretary, Medical Education and Research.

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