NIMHANS names Prof Shekar Sheshadri as new interim director, institute yet to get full-time head
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Bengaluru: For a third time in a row, the Centre has appointed an interim director for the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.
Senior Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Shekar Sheshadri, has been appointed as the officiating director until his retirement or until the regular director assumes charge of the post.
This comes in compliance with the order by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW). The Union Health Ministry order dated June 9 clarified that Prof Shekar Sheshadri will serve as the director till November 16, 2021.
However, the game of musical chair continues as NIMHANS still has no regular director at an unprecedented time like this.
Earlier senior faculty member and Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr Satish Chandra Girimaji was serving at the position after the retirement of Senior Professor of Epidemiology, Dr G Gururaj, on April 13 as he attained the age of 65. Dr G Gururaj was also serving as an interim director as the post was assigned to him in December last year after the superannuation of the then Director, Dr B N Gangadhar.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the authorities had also appointed Head of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, Prof M V Padma Srivastava and she was supposed to overtake the charge on February 1st but due to some technical problems, her appointment was not initiated.
The post of the Director is assigned to an individual for a period of 5 years by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC). ACC considers the recommendations made by the search committee which are vetted by the Union Health Ministry. As per a recent media report in The New Indian Express, ACC has not yet made any decision about the new director and hence there is no formal announcement about a regular director yet.
The New Indian Express reports that previously 8 candidates applied for the post of director after the Health Ministry advertised for the post in March last year as it became vacant after the retirement of director Gangadhar.
The candidates who applied for the post included the Head of Department (HoD), Psychiatry, Dr Prathima Murthy, former HoD, Psychiatry Dr Prabha Chandra, former HoDs, Neurology, Dr Nalini and Dr Pramod Pal and former HoD, Neurosurgery, Dr Malla Bhaskara Rao. Three candidates from outside NIMHANS, including Dr Padma, had also requested the authorities to accept their candidature for the top post. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan conducted the interviews virtually.
Many have expressed concern as NIMHANS is yet to get a regular director. One of the medical professionals posted, "NIMHANS has no regular director for 8 months. It is an institution of national and international repute. I urge authorities to appoint the director ASAP. There is a humongous task ahead ramping up #Mentalhealth and psychosocial support post-Covid situation."
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