Appointments made only after nod by DoPT: AIIMS

Denying any discrepancies in the recently held faculty selection process, AIIMS on Friday said that all appointments by the concerned committee were made after the green signal from the department of personnel and training.

"I do not know why it is being raked up. The governing body held a meeting and ratified the faculty list provided by the DoPT. If there was a fallacy in it then we would have been served a notice by the health and the DoPT ministry," Amit Gupta, spokesperson of AIIMS, told IANS.

The controversy erupted after a group of faculty members belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities on Thursday urged the central government to probe the alleged violation of the reservation policy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The institution has appointed 40 existing members of faculty as professors and over 120 others as associate and additional professors.

In the letter, the group of doctors also alleged that the institution has a long history of denial of due rights and discrimination against SCs, STs and OBCs.

The group wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee demanding his intervention in the matter.

"The fact that reservations for SC/ST/OBCs could not be implemented in letter and spirit for so many years is mainly due to lack of political will. Those responsible for undermining the policy of reservation have developed a kind of immunity to any action against them," said the letter sent to the president.