Centre to announce AIIMS Delhi new Director by next Wednesday

New Delhi: All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi India's premier medical institute is all set to get its new director by Wednesday next week as the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to select the candidate for the top post at AIIMS.  

An official said, "The government has been brainstorming for the past few months to select a suitable candidate for the post of AIIMS Director (Delhi). It is likely that the Government can announce the name of the new AIIMS director by next Wednesday."

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There are four members in the committee which is headed by the Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology Rajesh Gokhale, and Delhi University vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh. Applications have been received from 32 candidates, out of which three names have been shortlisted and have been sent to the ACC for the final selection of a new director. 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that earlier in March, the names of three doctors, short-listed by a search-cum-selection committee and subsequently approved by the Institute Body, the top decision-making body of the AIIMS, were sent to the ACC for final approval. The three shortlisted candidates were Nikhil Tandon, head of the department of endocrinology at AIIMS; Rajesh Malhotra, chief of AIIMS Trauma Centre and the head of the department of orthopaedics; and Pramod Garg, professor in the gastroenterology department. 

The ACC, however, had asked for a wider panel of names for the AIIMS Director post. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the prime minister had on June 20 sought a wider panel of names for the post of director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)

The term of the current director of AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria, was set to end on March 24 this year, however, he got again an extension for three months as a Director on 24 June. The Medical Dialogues team had earlier also reported about the extension given to Dr Guleria through an office memorandum issued by the premier hospital. Dr Guleria was appointed as the director for a term of five years on March 28, 2017. 

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However, a senior doctor in AIIMS, criticized the government for the delay in appointing the new director, calling it a matter of national importance. A senior doctor of AIIMS told the Mint, "First of all, the acting director cannot take any policy decision and as per institute act, the day a director completes his tenure the charge should be handed over to the senior most professor.

If the government thinks to extend the tenure of the Director, then they have to record the valid reasons for the extension. The point is this when the advertisement was given in the newspaper and 32 nominations had come after which search-cum-select committee shortlisted the names for the post then why the extension was given."

The Health Ministry spokesperson did not give any official response to these issues. 

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