The decision of Goa Medical College dean, Dr Viney N Jindal took most in the medical fraternity by surprise. The Navhind Times caught up with him on Monday evening to know the reasons behind his decision to seek voluntary retirement. Here are the excerpts of an interview with Dr Jindal.
What are the reasons for your sudden decision to seek voluntary retirement from service?
My decision to seek benefit of voluntary retirement scheme was for personal reasons. I have been dean of the GMC for the over three and half years. During this period because of my commitment to the office of the dean I have not been able to perform much of neurosurgery, which is my passion. As I do not expect any reduction in workload of dean’s office, I thought of quitting and going in for private practice so that I could pursue my passion for neurosurgery.
Was that the only reason for your quitting or were the charges of corruption and inefficiency that appeared in a section of the media that made you quit?
I have given prime of my life to the GMC and have always worked dedicatedly in setting up the neurosurgery department and bringing it to the present level. The GMC is among the few medical colleges in the country to offer MCI recognised post-graduate (MCh) course in neurosurgery. Here I would like to state I too have self-esteem and was hurt by the allegation. My decision to quit was also influenced by the unfounded charges of corruption and inefficiency against me.
What has been the response from your colleagues and friends to your decision to quit the GMC?
It has been mixed response, while most of my friends at GMC as well as outside have requested me to reconsider my decision on quitting as the dean; the others have expressed happiness that I would be available for neurosurgical consultations and operations. They also feel that my expertise in neurosurgery is going waste and that it should be put to good use in treating the patients with neurosurgical problems. Here I would like to state that I am overwhelmed by the response from my colleagues and general public.
You have been at helm of affairs of GMC for quite sometime. What are that problems ailing the GMC?
GMC in my opinion is one of the best equipped hospitals in the country. The government of Goa is spending a large amount of money on it. However, there are procedural delays because of which the GMC has not been able to come up to the expectations of public. Goa being a high literate state, the expectations of the people from GMC are very high. While this is a good stimulus for development of GMC at times we feel handicapped in not being able to match up to these expectations.
How do you think that your services could be utilised as a neurosurgeon and as administrator?In most hospitals there is a dichotomy of responsibilities and functions of administrators. The dean is responsible for the academic part, i.e. medical college and looks after teaching while responsibility of management of hospital largely lies with medical superintendent. The duties and responsibilities are usually very well defined and also the accountability is fixed accordingly. In such a situation the dean has sufficient time to attend to clinical work in addition to his administrative responsibilities. This model is followed in all good institutions like AIIMS (New Delhi) and PGI, Chandigarh.
What happens if the government rejects your VRS application?
In that case I would have no option but to go by the government decision, as I cannot afford to press for resignation because I would be losing all the service benefits.
-Navhind Times, Goa daily
