Over 40 percent faculty posts vacant in AIIMS, 20 percent in JIPMER, 17 percent in PGI: Health Minister in Parliament

New Delhi: Altogether 2783 faculty and 22861 non-faculty positions are vacant across 23 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), JIPMER (Puducherry), and PGIMER (Chandigarh), the Union Minister of State for Health, Shri Prataprao Jadhav, informed the parliament recently.

Among these, AIIMS across the country have altogether 6376 sanctioned faculty positions. However, 2561 of these positions are unfilled, indicating 40.16% vacant positions. Altogether 19529 out of 58953 non-faculty positions are vacant across the 23 AIIMS. Therefore, around 33% non-faculty positions are vacant at the AIIMS.

There are altogether 445 sanctioned faculty and 5812 sanctioned non-faculty positions at JIPMER. Among these, 91 faculty and 1458 non-faculty positions are vacant, respectively. This indicates around 20% and 25% vacancy of faculty and non-faculty positions at the institute.

In the case of PGIMER Chandigarh, 131 out of 732 sanctioned faculty positions are vacant. Further, the institute has 1874 out of 8265 sanctioned non-faculty positions unfilled. So, PGIMER has around 17.8% vacant faculty and 22.6% vacant non-faculty positions.

The data regarding this was shared by the Minister while responding to the queries raised by Loksabha MP Shri S Jagathratchakan, who sought to know the details of the sanctioned strength and existing vacancies of both faculty and non-faculty staff positions in All India Institute of Medical Sciences and other premier medical institutes such as Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), and Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

He also questioned whether these vacancies have had any impact on medical education, research output or quality of healthcare services provided by these institutes and he also sought the details regarding the measures taken or proposed by the Government to expedite recruitment and ensure optimal staffing levels including timelines for filling the existing vacancies.

In response, the MoS Health informed that "All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi , Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry and new AIIMS set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthaya Suraksha Yojana are providing state-of-the-art facilities in the area of medical education, research and healthcare. For ensuring effective functioning of various departments, in these Institutes, creation of posts & recruitment is a continuous process."

He also provided the details of sanctioned, filled and vacant faculty and non-faculty positions in AIIMS, JIPMER, and PGIMER in the form of an annexure.

Vacant Faculty Positions at AIIMS:

As per the data provided by the Minister, 462 out of 1306 sanctioned faculty positions are vacant at AIIMS Delhi.

Altogether 71 out of 305 positions are vacant at AIIMS Bhopal, 103 out of 337 positions at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, 186 out of 405 positions at AIIMS Jodhpur, 116 out of 305 faculty positions at AIIMS Raipur.

84 out of 305 positions are vacant at AIIMS Patna, 147 out of 355 positions at AIIMS Rishikesh, 158 put of 309 positions at AIIMS Mangalagiri, 139 out of 373 positions at AIIMS Nagpur, 139 out of 309 positions at AIIMS Kalyani, 98 out of 213 positions at AIIMS Gorakhpur, 79 out of 219 positions at AIIMS Bathinda, 91 out of 217 positions at AIIMS Bilaspur, 68 out of 183 positions at AIIMS Guwahati, 79 out of 208 positions at AIIMS Deoghar, 50 out of 183 positions at AIIMS Bibinagar.

Meanwhile, 83 out of 201 positions are lying unfilled at AIIMS Raebareli, 107 out of 183 positions are vacant at AIIMS Rajkot, 134 out of 183 positions at AIIMS Madurai, 68 out of 183 positions at AIIMS Jammu, and all 94 faculty positions at AIIMS Awantipura.

Faculty Positions have not yet been sanctioned at AIIMS Rewari and AIIMS Darbhanga.

Details of Faculty, Non-Faculty positions in AIIMS, PGIMER and JIPMER

The Minister informed that in order to expeditiously fill vacant sanctioned faculty and non-faculty positions in various Institutes, following measures have been taken:

(i) Standing Selection Committee has been constituted in each Institute as per the provision of their respective Act to facilitate filling up of vacant faculty positions.

(ii) Provision has been made for engagement of retired faculty at the level of Professor, Additional Professor and Associate Professor, on contract basis, in new AIIMS, up to the age of 70 years from Institutes of National Importance (INIs) and Government Medical Colleges (GMCs).

(iii) Visiting Faculty Scheme has been formulated to allow Professors, Additional Professors and Associate Professors, who are holding academic positions in Government Institutions within India or academic institutions outside India, to be the Visiting Faculty in new AIIMS for teaching purposes.

Recently, Rajya Sabha MP Shri Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi had also questioned the MoS Health regarding the steps taken by the Government to ensure adequate number of specialist doctors in various departments of AIIMS across the country for attending the medical requirement and treatment needs of the patients. He had also sought the details of sanctioned strength and in-position-strength of specialists in each and every department in all AIIMS including the AIIMS at Hyderabad.

In response, Minister Jadhav had informed, "Creation of posts & recruitment is a continuous process for ensuring effective functioning of various Departments, including Broad Speciality & Super-Speciality, in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)."

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