Faculty strength lowest at AIIMS Rajkot: minister

The average vacancy in faculty positions across the 18 AIIMS, other than the first centre in Delhi, stands at 45.7 per cent.

Written by Anonna Dutt

New Delhi | December 11, 2022 02:35 AM IST

2 min read

The committee had also noted a “bias” against SC/ST candidates for hiring on these posts.

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Vacancies in faculty member positions are as high as 78 per cent at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rajkot, where only 40 doctors are currently employed against the sanctioned strength of 183, according to data shared by the Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharti Pravin Pawar.

The average vacancy in faculty positions across the 18 AIIMS, other than the first centre in Delhi, stands at 45.7 per cent. The least number of vacant positions is 74 (24.26 per cent) at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, according to the data.

“Adequate faculty posts have been sanctioned by the government for all newly created AIIMS for teaching MBBS students,” the minister said in a written reply in Parliament.

She said a standing selection committee has been set up at each of the new AIIMS to facilitate filling of posts.

The upper age limit for direct recruitment against the posts of professor and additional professor has been raised from 50 years to 58 years and permission has been granted for taking serving faculty from other government medical colleges on deputation basis.

Contractual hiring of retired faculty from government medical colleges up to the age of 70 years, appointment of overseas citizens of India and diversion of staff between the departments has been allowed to ensure adequate staffing, said the Minister.

The student-teacher ratio is best at AIIMS Bilaspur, with one teacher for every two students, and the worst is at AIIMS Gorakhpur, where there is one teacher for every 5.4 students, according to the data presented in Parliament.

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A shortage of faculty across new AIIMS has been a long-standing problem. In fact, earlier this year, a parliamentary standing committee had pulled up AIIMS Delhi for having 275 vacant posts for assistant professors and 92 vacancies for professors.

The committee had also noted a “bias” against SC/ST candidates for hiring on these posts.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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