NEW DELHI: The Centre’s proposal to rename All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi and 22 other locations have not pleased the apex institute’s faculty body. The Faculty Association of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (FAIMS) has expressed concern over the proposed exercise to rename all 23 AIIMS hospitals after freedom fighters, historical events or monuments.
The move, which is still not final, was denounced by the faculty members who said that the decision will bring identity loss to AIIMS and demoralize its workers. The faculty body has sought the opinion of its members on this issue with a response within two days. “We at FAIMS seek your opinion on this important issue, so that appropriate action from our side can be taken,” a letter addressed to the members read.
According to FAIMS, the renaming will take away the identity and recognition from the apex institute within the country and outside.“Identity is linked with the name. If identity is lost, institutional recognition will be lost both within the country and outside. That is why famous and established institutes have the same names for centuries such as Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard universities,” Prof Achal Kumar Srivastava, President, FAIMS said.
The association equated AIIMS’ brand identity with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs).“In India, IITs have a name recognition which gives them an institution’s identity, and there is no proposal to change it. The same is true for AIIMs. Indian Institute of Science, which celebrated its 100 years has also not changed its name. Also, the sense of identity is so strong, that Calcutta, Bombay and Madras Universities continue with the same name even though the names of the
cities have changed,” the letter further read.