Doctors Write to Union Health Minister seeking rotatory headship policy at AIIMS, PGIMER

New Delhi: Writing to the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Faculty Association of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh has urged the Minister for the long pending reform of "rotatory headship" at these two institutes.

In the letter dated January 23, 2023, Faculty Association of AIIMS (FAIMS) and Faculty Association of PGIMER, Chandigarh have referred to the fact that various committees constituted at both the institutes also endorsed the reform.

"We would again like to bring to your attention to the long pending reform of “Rotatory headship” at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and PGIMER, Chandigarh. As communicated several times before, this has been appraised and recommended by both General Bodies of the faculty association of AIIMS (FAIMS) and PGIMER (FA). The various committees constituted at both the institutes, Ministry of Health and Government of India also endorsed this reform at both the Institutes. Its implementation has been recently ensured by Hon’ble Minister himself in the Parliament of India," read the letter.

Apart from this, the associations also referred to the fact that the representatives of the Faculty Association of JIPMER, Pondicherry and NIMHANS, Bengaluru have also supported the rotatory headship.

Also Read: Panel to look into proposal of Five-year rotation of headship at AIIMS Delhi

In this regard, the letter pointed out that, "A committee constituted by MOHFW under chairmanship of Prof. V K Paul called a meeting on 16.11.2022 of all the representatives of the Institutes of National Importance and their respective faculty associations. During the meeting representatives of the Faculty Association of JIPMER, Pondicherry NIMHANS, Bengaluru unanimously supported rotatory headship. Even the directors of AMU, CMC Vellore and BHU, Varanasi shared their positive experiences about rotatory headship in their respective institutes. Besides, several members of the committee had also expressed their views in favour of rotatory headship."

"FAIMS along with FA of PGIMER gave their suggestions for immediate implementation of the rotatory headship in the meeting. The same was conveyed to the committee through a letter (No. FAIMS/44/2022, dated – 22.11.2022)," added the letter.

Besides, the Faculty Associations also pointed out that "There are media reports that the committee has completed its deliberations and its report is pending for approval."

Addressing the delay in implementing the reform regarding rotatory headship at these two institutes, the letter further mentioned, "General Bodies of FAIMS and FA of PGIMER in a recent meeting expressed anguish towards an unwarranted delay in implementation of the much-approved reform of Rotatory Headship."

Seeking time from the Minister to discuss the issue of reform, the associations stated in the letter, "Hon’ble Prime Minister has taken positive steps towards transparency and administrative reforms across all sectors in the country. Hence, we urge you to intervene in implementing the much-needed reform of Rotatory headship in time bound manner which will surely improve governance and function at AIIMS and PGIMER, Chandigarh."

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that expressing their anguish over the delay in the implementation of the 'Rotation of Headship' policy at AIIMS, the Faculty Association of the Institute had written to the Director of the Institute Prof M Srinivas and threatened to go on a protest if the rotatory headship' is not implemented in the institute immediately.

The FAIMS general body had said that implementing this policy is essential for transparency and accountability in the governance of the institute. Expressing their anguish over the delay in implementing the Rotatory Headship, the FAIMS had also opined that the constitution of a committee of external experts to consider 'Rotation of Headship' was "unnecessary and unwarranted".

Last year, AIIMS Delhi had constituted a six-member expert panel to consider the proposal of rotation of headship after every five years in departments and centres.

The proposal was discussed in the central institute body (CIB) meeting held on June 16 last year under the chairmanship of the Union Health Minister, according to an AIIMS notification issued on August 18.

Also Read: AIIMS faculty Association demands urgent implementation of Rotation of Headship, threatens protest