Political weight on AIIMS faculty not a new phenomenon

The spat between the Union Health Minister and the AIIMS Director hogged the limelight last fortnight.

The spat between the Union Health Minister and the AIIMS Director hogged the limelight last fortnight. But what many may not know is that political interference in the premier medical institute and hospital goes beyond the day-to-day administration. In fact, besides AIIMS, PGI Chandigarh is the only institute of higher medical education where politicians are part of the faculty selection process.

MPs are part of the committees and institute bodies responsible for all selections and decision-making at AIIMS. And this has been there for the last 30 years. 8216;8216;Nowhere in the world will you find politicians as part of selection committees of faculty of an institute of excellence,8217;8217; said Dr Anoop Misra, Head of Diabetology at Fortis and a former Professor at AIIMS medicine. He was among the four senior faculty members who left early this year.

AIIMS was formed by an Act of Parliament in 1956. And it was 21 years later in 1978 that for the first time its 8216;autonomy8217; felt the political weight when the then Director, Dr Ramalingum Swamy, was removed from his post by the Janata Dal Health Minister, Raj Narain. Dr Swamy was asked to join as Director ICMR and Dr L.P. Agarwal took over from him. Not only this, the minister had two MPs appointed as part of the selection committee for appointment of the teaching faculty. Till then, the MPs were part of only the AIIMS governing body.

From then, the floodgates of political meddling were opened. Once the Congress government returned to power, Dr Agarwal was removed in what the government called 8216;public interest8217;. He was not given any substitute posting and went to court on the issue. Though the order was not annulled, the court directed the institute to pay him his salary till his retirement.

8216;8216;And since then, the calibre and culture of the institute has been getting diluted as political patronage started coming in the way of professional excellence,8217;8217; recalled a senior faculty member, who did not want to be named. The July 5, 2006 8216;extraordinary meeting8217; of the governing body and institute body called by Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss may repeat history. 8216;8216;The governing body can just say it has terminated the services of the Director in public interest,8217;8217; said the faculty member. Senior faculty members recall how MPs made sure that only their favoured candidates got into the faculty. 8216;8216;An MP who was not well was once brought to the selection committee meeting on a wheelchair as one of his candidates had to be selected.8217;8217;

8216;8216;A Health Minister appointed a professor without undergoing the process of selection in the 1990s,8217;8217; said another doctor. The process was discontinued for some time in early 90s but MPs again became part of the selection committee in 1993 when B. Shankaranand was Health Minister.

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In IITs, the HRD Minister is part of the selection committee for the director. Rest of the appointments are made though experts from outside the institute. Even for the posts of five Deans at IITs, the names are proposed by the Senate, which consists of about 175 professors. 8212;Dr S.M. Istiyaq, Dean Students Welfare IIT, Delhi.

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I have not set the precedence. It has been there for a long time. In order to change this, I have to change the laws governing AIIMS and that would mean amending the AIIMS Act. 8212;Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Health Minister.