AIIMS panel mulls five-year rotation of headship tenure

NEW DELHI: A five-member expert panel has been framed to consider the proposal of rotation of headship after every five years in departments and centres at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here.

According to an AIIMS notification issued on August 18, the proposal was discussed in the central institute body (CIB) meeting held on June 16 last year under the chairmanship of the Union Health Minister.

“The CIB had said there were detailed deliberations on this issue. Some of the members shared their experiences with the system of rotatory headship. The chairman expressed that the proposal needs to be examined further for its advantage and disadvantage and smooth functioning of departments in AIIMS,” it said.

The five members of the committee are Dr V K Paul, Member (NITI Aayog), Dr K K Talwar, former director, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr Jagat Ram, former Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr M C Misra, former Director of AIIMS, Delhi, Dr V M Katoch, former DG (ICMR) and President JIPMER and Dr Abhay Karandikar, Director of IIT Kanpur.

It was decided that the committee should approach various government institutions in the medical field as well as other fields where this system has been adopted. “The committee may be requested to give recommendations on the applicability of this system for institutions like AIIMS, Delhi & PGI, Chandigarh. It may also give recommendations about the applicability of this system for new AIIMS,” the document said.

Rotation of headship after every five years is one of the key recommendations of the M S Valiathan committee, which was constituted to suggest measures for improving the functioning of AIIMS during the Congress dispensation in 2006-2007. 

“The issue of rotating headship came to the governing body and institute on several occasions in the past, but because of its negative repercussions it was never implemented,” doctors said.