AIIMS Patna releases fresh advertisement for 173 faculty posts against 305 sanctioned posts

Patna: After cancelling previous faculty recruitment advertisements, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna issued a fresh advertisement on its website on August 5 for 173 faculty positions against its 305 sanctioned posts.  

The two previous faculty recruitment advertisements were issued on October 18, 2021, and February 18 this year which were cancelled due to major administrative lapses, reports the Hindustan Times. 

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The fresh advertisement calls for 43 posts of professor, 36 of additional professors and 47 each of associate professors and assistant professors, accounting for all backlog vacancies. 

A senior official said, "The earlier advertisements did not follow the reservation roster and recruitment rules. Besides, some positions were downgraded, without citing valid reasons." Dr GK Pal, who joined as the executive director of AIIMS-Patna on July 3 stated, "We have fixed the deficiencies in the earlier advertisements and taken into consideration the reservation roster for the new AIIMS, as decided by the Nagarkar committee."

Dr Pal did not say anything about the problems in the previously issued advertisements. He said, "We have strictly implemented the Nagarkar committee recommendations while issuing advertisements for faculty recruitment this time." He added, "We are the first to issue rolling advertisement for full-length faculty recruitment across all the disciplines, which include speciality and super specialty departments."

Under rolling advertisement, faculty recruitment is an ongoing process that takes place throughout the year and the institute would keep updating its vacancies as against its sanctioned posts. The advertisement states the opening date of online applications as 20th August 2022, with the first cut-off available on 19th September 2022 and the second cut-off on 31st December 2022. 

Dr Pal told HT, "We expect to complete the scrutiny of application in September. By October, we expect to complete the faculty interview and have the new faculties in place by November this year." 

In the earlier advertisements, AIIMS had inappropriately downgraded some faculty positions. Various senior faculty positions despite being vacant were not advertised. In place of that, a lower position, at the level of associate or assistant professor, was advertised. Faculty members from paediatrics, ophthalmology, orthopaedics and pulmonary medicine who were eligible to enter the next higher position raised their objections as some positions were not advertisements despite being vacant. The departments from which the vacant posts were not advertised include cardiothoracic vascular surgery, burn and plastic surgery, ear nose and throat (ENT), paediatrics, trauma and emergency (emergency medicine), said a senior officer. 

Further, the officer added that the eligibility criteria for the professor's post were upgraded to DM in some departments like pulmonary medicine whereas few other departments were selectively ignored to benefit a handful of existing faculty members. 

A senior functionary associated with the recruitment process said, "This time, we have strictly followed the recruitment rules of AIIMS-Delhi, which is the mother institute for all new AIIMS." The functionary added, "Rules allow downgrading a post only when suitable candidates are not available for the higher post, after advertising them. In such circumstances, the authorities have to take clearance either from the central institute body or the president of the institute. No such procedure was followed earlier at AIIMS-Patna." 

In October 2021, the institute advertised for 158 faculty positions and for 11 positions in February this year. 

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