AIIMS not 'appointing' eligible SC/ST aspirants
New Delhi: It seems all the tall claims of the government to provide equal opportunities to aspirants belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) has fallen flat as a Parliamentary Standing Committee has alleged that despite having proper eligibility and competence, experienced SC/STs aspirants "are not allowed to be inducted" as faculty members in AIIMS even at an initial stage.
The Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (2021-2022), which is led by Kirit P Solanki, has also noted that it's happening despite the premier health institute is having a faculty shortage of 275 assistant professors and 92 professors out of the total sanctioned strength of 1,111 faculty positions.
The committee, which tabled its 15th report on the Welfare of SCs and STs on the subject "role of autonomous bodies/educational institution, including central universities, engineering colleges, IIMs, IITs, medical institutes, etc, has asked the Union Health Ministry to must submit an action plan within three months from the date of presentation of the report to both the Houses of Parliament.
The House Panel also observed that the reservation is not extended/applied in super-specialty courses resulting in unprecedented and unwarranted deprivation of SCs and STs candidates and monopoly of the unreserved faculty members in the super-specialty fields.
"Reservation policy must be enforced in all super-specialty fields at student as well as faculty level to ensure the presence of SC/ST faculty members. Effective mechanisms need to be set up to send SC/ST doctors and students to undergo specialised training abroad so that their adequate representation may be seen visibly in all super-specialty fields," it said.
The Parliamentary Panel, in its report, further noted that the overall percentage of admission of SCs/STs in MBBS and other undergraduate and PG courses in various AIIMS are far below the required level of 15 per cent for SC and 7.5 per cent for ST. The Committee has strongly asked AIIMS to maintain the prescribed percentage of reservation for SCs/STs in all courses.
The issue of no presentation of a SC/ST member in the general body of the AIIMS has also been pointed out by the committee.
The House Panel has also recommended not to appoint employees for non-core areas like safaikaramchari, driver, data operator, etc, on contract as contractual appointment policy creates scope for exploitation of the downtrodden classes through contractors.
