New Delhi: While the government has established 23 AIIMS-like institutions in the country, exodus of the faculty members has hit them hard over the last few years. According to a reply furnished in parliament on August 13, as many as 429 doctors have quit 20 AIIMS-like institutions between 2022-2024. The other three AIIMS-like institutions are non-functional at the moment.

According to the reply, 52 faculty members have quit AIIMS-Delhi in this period. As many as 38 have resigned from AIIMS-Rishikesh, 35 from AIIMS-Raipur, and 32 from AIIMS-Bilaspur (Himachal Pradesh). 

Doctors who resigned from AIIMS between 2022-2024

Apart from the six-AIIMS like institutions which were conceptualised during the last Vajpayee government, the rest came into existence after 2014 and most of them became functional only in the last two-three years.

The minister for state (MoS) in the Union health ministry, Prataprao Jadhav, said these doctors had cited 'personal and professional reasons’ for the resignations. Jadhav did not state if, and how, the government was trying to address the high attrition rate.

Vacancies

What also ails these institutions is the significant shortage of human resources (HR). The HR which deals with patients is broadly divided into two groups: faculty members or doctors and non-faculty staff.

Faculty members consist of assistant professors, associate professors or professors. Non-faculty staff members include nurses, paramedical staff like lab technicians, radiology assistance, OT assistants and pharmacists, among others. 

According to another reply given in the parliament on August 5, more than one-third posts of faculty members sanctioned in 2024-25 are vacant. AIIMS-Madurai has 73% of the total posts vacant followed by AIIMS-Rajkot (60%)  and AIIMS-Bilaspur (53%)

Percentage of faculty member posts vacant against the number sanctioned in 2024-25

The minister listed several measures to tackle these vacancies. He said provisions had been made to employ retired professors, additional professors and associate professors who have taught at government institutions, on a contractual basis for working at AIIMS. The maximum age limit for them to be eligible is 70 

Avenues have also been opened for professors, additional professors and associate professors, who are already teaching at government colleges, to be appointed as visiting faculty members to AIIMS, in addition to the academic work they are already doing. 

A special selection committee has been constituted at AIIMS. 

Despite all these provisions in place, the persisting lack of faculty members at the premier institutions raises questions about the quality of teaching at these AIIMS. 

Shortage of non-faculty staff

In addition to a shortage of faculty members, the shortfall in non-faculty staff at AIIMS around the country is also striking. At AIIMS-Madurai, 96% of non-faculty staff posts are vacant, followed by AIIMS Rajkot (56%) and AIIMS-Guwahati (48%)

Percentage of non-faculty posts vacant against the number sanctioned in 2024-25

Delays in treatment

The worst hit among these institutions – whether in terms of the actual number of doctors resigning or the number of posts vacant – is AIIMS-Delhi. The waiting period for certain surgeries at the country's premier institute is up to two years. 

Other than the shortage of HR, the lack of infrastructure could also be a contributing factor. 

According to a reply given on July 29, patients needing cardio-thoracic vascular surgery or the CTVS surgery (for dealing with problems related to the heart, lungs and blood vessels) and neurosurgery may have to wait up to two years, the minister said, citing heavy patient load as the reason.

In gastrointestinal surgeries, the waiting period ranges between 3-6 months. In the gynaecology department, even those patients who are critically ill with malignancy (cancers) may have to wait for up to three months to be operated upon. The waiting period in the general surgery department is up to two months. 

“The number of patients waiting to be operated are 690 for cardio-thoracic vascular surgery, 1324 for neurosurgery, 305 for surgical oncology and 28 for cochlear implant surgery (done for patients dealing with hearing loss),” the minister said on July 29. 

The patients undergoing critical treatment in ophthalmology, ENT, paediatrics, burns and plastic surgery, urology and dental departments have no waiting period for surgery, he added.

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