M A I N   N E W S

Panel advises autonomy for AIIMS, PGIs
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 13
The stage appears set for radical restructuring of India’s premier healthcare institutes, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and PGIs, with the Prime Minister-appointed Valiathan committee on medical sector reforms recommending full autonomy for the institutes on the lines of IITs and IIMs.

In its report submitted recently to the Ministry of Health, the committee said time had come for the Centre to let go of the presidency of individual institutes like AIIMS and PGIs and open the doors for “meaningful” autonomy.

“As the jurisdiction of the Health Ministry extends over numerous institutes across India, including two institutions of national importance — AIIMS and PGIs — and several more AIIMS-type institutes on the anvil, it would no longer be practical or productive for the Minister of Health to preside over individual institutes. We would recommend the adoption of time-tested model of HRD Ministry for IITs and suggest the Minister of Health may preside over joint council of AIIMS, PGIs and other AIIMS-like institutes,” the committee has said in its final recommendation.

The committee also calls for naming the President as the visitor to AIIMS and select the institute director through a search-cum-selection committee headed by him. “The institute body of AIIMS should appoint the director on the basis of the committee’s recommendations with prior approval of the visitor,” says the Valiathan report, whose recommendations were discussed at the AIIMS institute body meeting in the capital on December 8. Most of the recommendations have been accepted in principle, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad recently said in Lok Sabha.

Interestingly, the PM had, in a recent communication to Azad, said: “The MS Valiathan committee has made some far reaching recommendations. I believe that this should be a priority task of the Ministry of Health… Time has come for us to think about a radical reform of the institution so that it becomes not just a model for the establishment of other similar institutions in the country but also achieves levels of excellence on par with the best medical institutions in the world.”

On its part, the Valianthan committee also seeks amendments to AIIMS Act to reconstitute the Standing Committee to include experts from fields like management, cost accountancy and urban planning. Another major recommendation pertains to limiting to one year the terms of Institute Body and Standing Committee members (other than ex officio).

The committee has also sought a commercial role for AIIMS, saying the institute should form a consortia with other research bodies and industry to develop and transfer for commercialisation a range of products. “The institute should also create a personnel department with an MBA in charge, who should report to the director,” the report says.

Other recommendations

• One year sabbatical on full pay for productive professors who have finished five years in service.
• Two year leave (without pay) for additional professors/professors who want to work in private sector (in India or abroad) after five years of service.
• Professors with proven contribution to research should be permitted to switch full time to research, if they want.
• Retirement age for “excellent” professors should be enhanced from 62 to 65 years.