Though eligible, SC/ST doctors denied AIIMS jobs: Parliament panel

NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary panel has said that it was given to understand that junior resident doctors belonging to SC/ST who worked for a number of years on ad-hoc basis at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences were not selected at the time of filling of regular vacancies by stating that no candidate was found suitable and fit for induction.
While citing this concern, the parliamentary committee on the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in its report also highlights that out of total 1,111 faculty positions, there are vacancies of 275 assistant professors and 92 professor at AIIMS. The panel in its report also alleged that in spite of having "proper eligibility, competence, fully experienced SCs/STs aspirants are not allowed to be inducted as faculty members even at initial stage" at the country's premier medical college.
The committee has sought that all existing vacant faculty positions must be filled within the next three months and an action plan has been sought within the same timeframe from the ministry of health and family welfare. The panel said in future after filling up all the existing vacant positions, no faculty seat reserved for SC/ST shall be kept vacant for more than six months under any circumstances.
The panel further noted that the overall percentage of admission of SCs and STs in MBBS and other undergraduate courses and also postgraduate courses in various AIIMS are far below the required level of 15% for SC and 7.5% for ST. The committee therefore, strongly recommended that AIIMS should maintain strictly the prescribed percentage of reservation for SCs/STs in all courses. The committee re-emphasised the fact that it is mandatory to maintain the percentage of reservation to ensure more opportunity for SCs and STs.
These observations and recommendations are part of a the report on the "Role of autonomous bodies/educational institution Including central universities, engineering colleges, IIMs, IITs, medical institutes, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kendriya Vidyalaya etc. in socio-economic development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes" with special reference to implementation of reservation policy in the AIIMS".
The committee observed that the reservation is not extended/applied in super-specialty courses resulting in unprecedented and unwarranted deprivation of SCs and STs candidate and monopoly of the unreserved faculty members in the super-specialty fields.