The process followed by the Union Health Ministry in shortlisting names for the post of AIIMS Director has come under the scanner of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The PMO has asked for an explanation from the Health Ministry after several senior faculty members of the prestigious institute approached it with a complaint that seniority has been bypassed in choosing the names for the top job.
The Institute Body, which is the AIIMS’ top decision-making panel headed by Union Health Minister J P Nadda, had recommended HOD of Paediatrics Dr V K Paul, HOD of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorder Dr Randeep Guleria and professor of cardiology Dr Balram Bhargava for the top post, out of 53 applicants.
Upset at the way their seniority was ignored while shortlisting names for the post, some AIIMS faculty members had met the principal secretary to the Prime Minister and the cabinet secretary over the matter. “They claimed that people who are higher in seniority have been ignored,” the sources said.
“The PMO has sought to know what criterion was adopted in shortlisting the names of three candidates and why names of Dr S C Sharma HoD of ENT, Dr S K Panda HOD of Pathology and Dr Subrata Sinha who is the Director of National Brain Research Centre, Manesar were dropped,” they said.
A final call in the matter will be taken by the Prime Minister. A meeting was also held between top health ministry officials and the PMO on Wednesday and a final decision in the matter is expected in a few days, sources said.
The selection-cum-search panel, led by Health Secretary C K Mishra, in its meeting on January 24, in addition to Dr Paul, Dr Guleria and Dr Bhargava had also considered Chitra Sarkar, professor of pathology, Sharma and Sinha for the post.