Shortage of Senior, Junior Residents at Delhi AIIMS: MoS Health informs Parliament

New Delhi: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, is grappling with shortages of Senior Residents (SR) and Junior Residents (JR) despite ongoing recruitment processes for these posts in academic and non academic category, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Minitser of Health and Family Welfare, shri Prataprao Jadhav.

"The posts of Senior Residents (SR) and Junior Residents (JR) are tenure posts, and creation of new posts and admission/recruitment against vacant posts is a continuous process," said the minister in a written reply to a series of queries raised in the parliament.

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He was responding to Parliament Member Advocate Priya Saroj who sought to know the details of department wise regular posts, total number of new created posts and categorywise (UR, SEBC, SC, ST) recruitment made for Senior Residents (SRs), Junior Residents (JRs) and Research Associates (RAs) during the last 20 years in AIIMS, New Delhi on the basis of tenure, the number of SRs/JRs/Research Associates of General Category who are working on contract basis or otherwise against the posts meant for SEBC/SC/ST category-wise and department-wise along with their tenure indicating month, year and with and without break and the percentage of such employees as mentioned in comparison to the total sanctioned strength in AIIMS, New Delhi, category-wise and department-wise.

In response, the MoS Health provided categorised data regarding the recruitment of SR and JR in AIIMS Delhi. The category-wise current status of Junior Residents (JR) and Senior Residents (SR) in AIIMS, New Delhi, is as follows:

Current Staffing Status

As of 2025, the sanctioned strength for Junior Residents at AIIMS stands at 1,347, comprising 1,106 academic and 241 non-academic posts. However, 183 positions remain vacant. The breakdown reveals:

Academic JRs: 975 in position, 131 vacant.

Non-Academic JRs: 189 in position, 52 vacant.

The category-wise distribution of Junior Residents currently employed is:

Academic: 440 from the Unreserved (UR) category, 131 Scheduled Caste (SC), 57 Scheduled Tribe (ST), 259 Other Backward Classes (OBC), and 88 from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

Non-Academic: 92 UR, 20 SC, 9 ST, 49 OBC, and 19 EWS.

For Senior Residents, the scenario is similar:

Academic SRs: Out of 718 sanctioned positions, only 615 are filled, leaving 103 vacant. These posts do not have any reservation quotas.

Non-Academic SRs: Recruitment Numbers Show a Decline Over the Past Three Years

2023: 504 filled against 941 advertised.

2024: 440 filled out of 887 posts.

2025: Only 185 filled against 419 vacancies.

Further, the Minister clarified that there are no regular posts for Research Associates. Instead, they are recruited for specific research projects on a fixed-term basis, as per the project's needs.

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