ICMR DG among 32 candidates in contention for post of AIIMS director

Thirty-two candidates are in contention for the post of director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi with the incumbent, Randeep Guleria, slated to retire on March 23.

ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava is one of the candidates.

Twelve doctors from AIIMS have applied for the post. They include Rajesh Malhotra, head of orthopaedics and chief of trauma centre; MV Padma Srivastava, chief of neurosciences centre; Nikhil Tandon, head of department of endocrinology; Sunil Chumber, head of surgery; A K Bishoi, professor of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS); and forensic chief Sudhir Gupta.

According to official sources, the date on which the four-member search-cum-selection committee will meet to short-list some names is yet to be decided. The panel comprises Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology Rajesh S Gokhale, Principal Scientific Advisor to the government K Vijay Raghavan, and Delhi University VC Yogesh Singh.

"The members of the search-cum-selection committee will soon meet to finalise some names which then will be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the prime minister for final approval," said a source.

The AIIMS' faculty cell issued an advertisement for the recruitment of a new director on November 29 and the last day for submitting applications was December 29.