New Delhi, March 20: The Management of the country’s top health institute, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) has come in for sharp criticism by the Parliamentary Standing Committee for the way it was running the institution.
”The Committee is deeply disturbed by the manner in which the Department is treating its top most institute of the country, more so when there is no scarcity of earmarked funds for its development activities,” it said in its latest report tabled in the current session of Parliament.
The Committee found that the Management was not paying attention to the improvement and addition of infrastructure or filling the vacancies while the patient load was increasing ” alarmingly” day by day.
It noted that projects had been delayed despite having been approved by the Governing Body as back as 2008.
The Committee was surprised to note that even very small works like additional lift in hospital, expansion of existing cafeteria in eastern campus, construction of community centre were not progressing.
It also expressed its unhappiness over it called ” the dilly-dallying” approach of the Department on the issue of setting up the Burns Unit.
The Committee found untenable the Management’s answer that the project was dropped to avoid duplication. Funds to the tune of Rs 48 crore had been earmarked for the purpose during the 11th Plan.
Moreover, availbility of any service at Safdarjung Hospital could not be made the criteria for not initiating the same at AIIMS.
”If that be so, the same argument can be put forth for not adding a particular service at Safdarjung Hospital since the same was available at the next door AIIMS,” it said and asked for reviving the proposal and expediting the setting up of the Burns Unit.
The AIIMS authorities have also drawn flak for not filling up the large number of faculty level vacancies.
On vacancies in other categories of posts, it said the patient load was increasing day by day as the institute caters to the need of poor patients from the remotest corners of the country in the absence of quality healthcare in those areas.
”The Department needs to not only fill up the existing vanacies urgently, also to reassess its manpower requirements regulary. The Department’s response in this regard is silent,” it said.
UNI