Chandigarh: In Dir race, 13 of 36 not from PGI

CHANDIGARH: Out of 36 candidates who have applied for the post of PGI director, 13 are from outside the PGI. Sources said two applicants are from Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, 10 from various AIIMS and one from the prestigious Mayo clinic. He was a pass-out from the PGI.
“The search selection committee will be constituted for shortlisting the candidates after scrutiny. It is expected that the top 10 will be included after matching their eligibility and other criteria,” said an official in the ministry of health and family welfare.
For the first time, few candidates have been nominated for the post. Prior to this, there were over 100 candidates. Also, 36% of the candidates who have applied are not from the institute. “Usually, the majority of those who apply are inhouse. In the previous years as well, there have been few candidates who are not from the PGI,” said an official in the ministry.
Two former directors of the institute, Dr Jagat Ram and Dr Yogesh Chawla, were from the PGI, while prior to them, Dr K K Talwar was from AIIMS, Delhi. “There were many reforms during Dr Talwar’s tenure as he initiated many new projects which changed the face of the PGI,” said a faculty member at PGI.
Also, this time most of the senior faculty members who have three to four years of years left for superannuation have also applied. The term of the director is five years or till retirement, whichever is earlier. Last year, the selection of the director took almost a year and the former director who had four years of service left was selected.
The applications shall be screened by a committee that will scrutinise the applications and the shortlisting shall be done after an interview by the search and selection committee. The top three names are sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by the Prime Minister.