BHUBANESWAR: All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, the first among six new apex healthcare institutions to be operationalised in the country after AIIMS, Delhi is hit by shortage of faculty and non-faculty positions.
More than 25 per cent faculty and 62 per cent non-faculty posts are lying vacant in the premier central health facility besides 36 per cent nursing staff, 50 per cent demonstrator and 70 per cent technical assistant/technicians.
As per reply to an RTI query by lawyer Satyaprakash Behuria, of the 54 sanctioned strength of professors, 45 additional professors, 81 associate professors, 377 senior residents and 351 junior residents, 27, 31, 31, 147 and 51 are lying vacant respectively till October 31.
Similarly, among non-faculty members, 2,399 posts are vacant out of a sanctioned strength of 3,876. While of the 377 senior resident and 351 junior posts, 230 and 300 are in position, 354 senior nursing officers and 816 nursing officers (Grade-II) are deployed out of 510 and 1,326 sanctioned posts respectively.
As many as 58 posts of technical assistant/technician, 21 posts of junior administrative officer, 40 demonstrators, all five assistant engineers (civil), three out of four dental technical officers and two out of three ayurvedic medical officers have been vacant since long.
There has been no regular appointment in administrative posts like medical superintendent, deputy director (administration), financial advisor and superintending engineer and they are being managed by in-charge officials.
However, the number of assistant professors is more than that of the sanctioned strength. AIIMS has 148 assistant professors against the sanctioned 125. The apex healthcare institute, declared open in 2012, has 44 departments and 12 super speciality departments. It has so far treated 65.92 lakh patients in OPD and 1.94 lakh in IPD.
A senior official of the administration said, regular recruitment is being conducted to fill up the vacant posts. The number of assistant professors is more than the strength due to downgrading of 45 posts of additional professor and associate professors to the level of assistant professor to facilitate direct recruitment through open advertisement, he added.