MUMBAI, July 5: There is a strong demand for the medical education and public health departments to be headed by professionals and not by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials. This view has been voiced by medical teachers and health officers of the respective departments.

While the latter are planning to move the government, the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) today submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi demanding replacement of the Secretary of the Medical Education and Drugs Department. The present Secretary belongs to an IAS cadre, who they feel should be replaced by a medical professional for more effective services.

``The IAS officials do not understand the problems of the medical teachers. They treat us like just any other employee,'' a senior office bearer of MSMTA said.

During the last two years, the Medical Education and Drugs Department has seen atleast four secretaries and from first day in office, they make it clear that they are not interested in working on the post, the memorandum stated.

``They may have genuine reasons for not liking the department, but the fact remains, unless and until the backbone of the department is looked after, well there will be no improvement in hospital administration.

We feel that the secretary of the department should be a medical professional as has been done in the departments of Law and Judiciary, Public Works and Irrigation, where the secretaries of these departments from the respective professions,'' the MSMTA pointed out.

In PWD and Irrigation departments, officials of the rank of Chief Engineer are appointed Secretaries, while in the Law and Judiciary department, officials of the rank of district and sessions judge head the department.

The immediate reason for such a demand was the failure of the Medical Education Department to draft a proposal allowing medical teachers to practice privately. In view of the growing tendency among medical teachers to quit the job owing to poor pay scale, it was proposed that those teachers, who have completed 10 years in the job should be permitted to set up their own practice.