Fresh ads to pick AIIMS director

BHOPAL: Reacting to this state of affairs, Bhopal MP Alok Sanjar told TOI, "Health services are essential and being adversely affected given the situation in these institutes. This needs to be addressed immediately by MoHFW. Without a permanent director, there is a drop in the standard of (patient) care."
Sources said that MoHFW, which advertised for appointment of a full-time director at AIIMS Bhopal last July is likely to release new advertisement for the same.It effectively means that the entire interview process for the post will start afresh. In January, a series of interviews were held for AIIMS Bhopal and Bhubaneswar. Till last month, MoHFW officials maintained that a candidate has been finalised and necessary approvals are being processed.
After the removal of BMHRC director Dr Manoj Pandey on Monday, Sanjar is seeking a meeting with Union health ministry officials on the matter. "It is not only a state capital but a lot of people from nearby areas depend on government services in speciality medical care," said the BJP MP, who is also an AIIMS, Bhopal governing body member.
BMHRC is administered by the Department of Health Research (DHR). Going by rules of business, DHR is not mandated to run a hospital. There are indications of BMHRC being handed over to the state government. At the centre of this is a corpus fund of Rs 740 crore - which cannot be unlocked until the formal dissolution of the Bhopal Memorial Hospital Trust (BMHT), which ran BMHRC for almost a decade.
Nireh is run by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It is a one of its kind institute in the country, assessing and evaluating environmental pollution and health impacts (especially on gas victims). NIREH functions out of Kamla Nehru Hospital building at the Gandhi Medical College and an ad for the post of director is out.