RCC Director post: Work in full swing behind curtains for yet another backdoor appointment

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The eligibility criteria for the appointment of Regional Cancer Center (RCC) director have been tinkered with to suit backdoor appointments. The National Medical Commission (NMC) criteria and the decision of the RCC Governing Body chaired by the Chief Minister are now kept aside by officials to abet the skewed plan.

Only a person with five years of working experience as a professor and head of any department should be appointed as director. Rejecting this, the Health Department formed a search committee to select a new director. In 2017, the NMC revised the qualifications of people to be appointed to the posts of principal, dean and director of institutions teaching PG and super speciality courses. For all this long, the norm was not followed in RCC. In 2018, a petition was filed in the High Court questioning the appointment of Dr Rekha A. Nair as the director under the old criteria.

RCC Governing Body meeting on 12th July 2023 approved the qualification criteria proposed by NMC. According to this, those who have worked in the field of cancer treatment for 20 years, 10 years as a professor or associate professor, or those who have worked in the field of study and research for five years as the head of any department as a professor, is ideal for the post of director.

RCC offers DNB Pathology, DM Medical Oncology and Pediatric Oncology courses. If not for a qualified director to head the institution, chances are likely that things will go awry.

According to the new order: After completing the interview of the applicants, the search committee will submit its recommendation and the government will make the final appointment. In older times, after the interview, the search committee used to issue the rank list from which the government used to appoint the first ranker as the director.