Four doctors shortlisted for Aiims top job

Four top doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (Aiims) have made it to the first shortlist for choosing the next director of the institute.

The contenders are M C Mishra, head of the surgery department and Trauma Centre; V K Paul, head of paediatrics; Balram Airam, head of cardiothorasic vascular surgery; and S K Acharaya, head of the gastroenterology department, sources told Deccan Herald.

They were shortlisted from an initial list of 70 doctors by a high-level committee comprising officials from the Indian Council of Medical Research, University Grants Commission, Union Health Ministry and Delhi University, among other agencies.

The list will be further pruned at a meeting of the Institute Body (governing body) headed by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who may forward a panel comprising two-three names to the prime minister’s office so that the appointments committee of the Cabinet (ACC) can take the final call.

The meeting is scheduled for September 24, sources said. The name of a fifth Aiims doctor, Y K Gupta, who heads the pharmacology department, is doing the rounds, too, though he is unlikely to make the cut because he is junior to the four doctors already shortlisted.

Mishra is the senior-most and stands the maximum chance to take over from incumbent R C Deka, whose term expires on September 30.