After 5-month wait,PGI gets director

A little over five months after Dr K K Talwar demitted office from the post of Director of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research,the premier tertiary care institute of the region got a new director today with the the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet clearing the name of Dr Y K Chawla for the coveted post.

A little over five months after Dr K K Talwar demitted office from the post of Director of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),the premier tertiary care institute of the region got a new director today with the the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) clearing the name of Dr Y K Chawla for the coveted post. Chawla,who heads the Department of Hepatology,beat 23 other candidates,including 12 from PGI itself and five from AIIMS,to bag what is one of the countrys top medical posts.

Dr Chawlas appointment has surprised many,given his reputation of maintaining a low profile. He was recently in the news when the first ever cadaveric liver transplant in PGI was performed by a team of doctors led by him.

Dr Chawla becomes the 11th director of the Institute,after his predecessor Dr K K Talwar demitted office on April 30 after remaining director for over seven years. After Talwar demitted office,Head of the Department of Nephrology Dr Vinay Sakhuja held officiating charge as PGI director for over five months.

Prior to this,the Institute remained headless for so many months together only in 2004 before Talwars appointment. In the closely watched contest of sorts,Dr Chawla emerged the winner leaving behind two strong contenders for the post – PGI Ophthalmology dept Head Dr Amod Gupta and Government Multi Specialty Hospital,Sector 32 (GMSH-32) Director-Principal Dr Raj Bahadur.

According to the orders,Dr Chawla will be holding office for a period of five years or till the completion of 65 years of age,whichever is earlier. Dr Talwar was given a two-year extension after his five-year term came to an end. Dr Chawla has been with the PGI since 1983,when he joined as a lecturer in the Hepatology Department.

The run-up to the selection of the PGI director has never been so interesting and nail-biting in the past and the closely watched contest witnessed many firsts. It was the first time that the selection committee had sent three names to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet against the one name norm which makes the appointment predictable.

However,with three names remaining front-runners for the post for all these months this time,there had been constant ups and downs,twists and turns in PGI. It was probably the first time that over two dozen complaints,representations including one sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes,were sent to the PMO and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for stalling of the selection process.

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This was also the first time that all the candidates were asked to come with a vision document for the Institute and evaluated not only according to their academic record and clinical performance but also with respect to their leadership qualities and acceptability within PGI.

Of the five shortlisted candidates,Dr Chawla was awarded the highest points (85) while Dr Amod Gupta scored 80 and Dr Raj Bahadur got 75.

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