7 names shortlisted for AIIMS Director post

“In today’s meeting, seven names were shortlisted. All are from AIIMS. The panel will hold its last meeting on January 24 and finalise three-five choices which will have to be approved by the Institute body before being sent to the ACC headed by the Prime Minister for the final approval,” a health ministry official said.

The panel had last met on January 8 at Nirman Bhawan here and the CVs of all the 53 candidates, who have applied for the post, were given to all members.

"Each of the members were asked to select a few names. Those names were discussed at the meeting and around 10 names have been shortlisted," the official said.

Apart from Health Secretary Mishra, who is the chairperson of the panel, the committee comprises Prime Minister's Principal Scientific Adviser R Chidambaram, Secretary in Department of Health Research Soumya Swaminathan, Director General of Health Services Jagdish Prasad and Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Yogesh Tyagi.

AIIMS had last month recommended a search-cum-selection committee headed by Union Health Minister J P Nadda which was rejected by the DoPT.

The PMO had then ordered reconstitution of the search panel based on DoPT guidelines.

Sources said 53 eminent doctors, including 35 from outside AIIMS, have applied for the post and the screening of applications has been completed.

The main contenders for the top post include Dr V K Paul, head of the department of paediatrics; Dr Randeep Guleria, HOD of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorders; Dr Alka Kriplani, HOD of obstetrics and gynaecology; Dr A B Dey, HOD of geriatric medicine, and AIIMS medical superintendent Dr D K Sharma.

The candidates from outside AIIMS include KGMU Chancellor Dr Ravi Kant, ex-director of AIIMS Rishikesh Dr Rajkumar, Director of JIPMER Dr Subhash Chandra Parija and Dr Rasik Vajpayee, nephew of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, sources said, adding that a few doctors based abroad have also applied for the post.