Senior faculty of Government Medical College Srinagar including members from departments like psychiatry, gynaecology, anatomy and oncology have been directed to report on emergency duty at the venue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit here on Sunday.
Principal GMC Srinagar has issued an order titled “Emergency duty on 03-02-2019 in connection with VVIP visit to the Valley of medical and paramedical staff (sic)”, asking around 52 employees of medical colleges, mostly senior faculty members of various departments to attend the emergency duty.
Prime Minister Narendra is reportedly scheduled to interact with elected Panchs and Sarpanchs of Kashmir at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Center (SKICC) during his daylong visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
The employees have been directed to report to the office of dean or principal, GMC Srinagar at 2 pm “wherefrom they will be transported to SKICC Srinagar in college buses.”
A senior faculty member, whose name was also in the list, said it is the first time ever such an order was issued and that “never before” have faculty members been asked to present themselves before a VVIP.
He said the medical college would have an “emergency response team at the hospital” during any VVIP visits to Srinagar.
The order for emergency duty has been issued following directions from divisional administration after a meeting on 28 January that reviewed preparedness for Modi’s visit.
Many faculty members who have been “nominated” in the order rued the decision and called it “political interference” in the medical college.
A faculty member said although heads of institutions, as part of protocol, were expected to attend such events but no teachers of the college have ever been included in it.
As per the list, faculty from departments of microbiology, anatomy, physiology and pharmacology are among others asked to attend the “emergency duty”.
An official at GMC Srinagar said many of the staff members in the list were currently on their winter vacation and will need to return as per the order.
So far, GMC Srinagar is the only medical institution where such an order has been issued. At SKIMS, an official said, no faculty member has been directed to be present at the venue.
“We have an emergency response system in place here at SKIMS, and it is set rolling when there is a VVIP movement,” he said, adding the tertiary care institute was not part of any other arrangement for the PM’s visit.
The PM will visit all three regions of the state to lay foundation of developmental projects worth more than Rs 41,000 crore, as per reports. It would be second of its kind where the Prime Minister would visit Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in a single day. His earlier such visit was on 19 May 2018 when he laid foundation of Zojila tunnel project, hydro-electricity projects and some development projects of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board .