Shimla:
After a prolonged legal battle, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government to revive the regular appointment of Dr. Subhash Chand as Professor in the Department of Orthopedics at Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College, Chamba.
Dr. Chand was selected by the HP Public Service Commission in 2019 and issued a regular appointment letter.
But he couldn’t join within the stipulated 15 days due to personal hardships, including estranged matrimonial issues.
The Health Department later took him on contract, and he has been serving in the same position ever since—on a meagre contractual salary.
Justice Sandeep Sharma, while allowing the writ petition, slammed the state for dragging the matter for over five years despite acute faculty shortage and repeated internal recommendations in Dr. Chand’s favour.
The Court found that the department kept using Dr. Chand’s services on contract while avoiding filling the post on regular terms to save money.
The Court also pulled up the government and HPPSC for not acting in public interest despite a 19.6% faculty shortage flagged by the Medical Council of India during inspection.
It termed the department’s refusal to revive the appointment as “absurd”, especially when Dr. Chand had already been selected under due process.
Setting aside the July 2023 rejection letter, the Court ordered the revival of his 2019 appointment and directed the government to act within four weeks.
However, Dr. Chand will only be entitled to regular pay from the date of joining on regular basis, not retrospectively.
The verdict comes as a big relief to Dr. Chand and a reality check for the state’s health administration, which continues to grapple with staff crunch while pushing qualified professionals into contractual uncertainty.
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