India’ premier hospital AIIMS facing acute shortage of staffs

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is reeling under an acute shortage of staff, with 430 posts of doctors and 2,109 posts of faculty members lying vacant at the country’s premier medical institute.

According to a recent parliamentary standing committee report, the AIIMS is facing a significant shortage of staff in various cadres. While 34.8 per cent of the sanctioned faculty posts are vacant, the proportion for non-faculty is 16.29 per cent of the sanctioned strength.

Similarly, there are 434 vacancies (37.48 per cent of the sanctioned strength) for senior residents (non-academic) and 113 vacancies (46.89 per cent of the sanctioned strength) for junior residents (non-academic), it said.

The AIIMS has 12,213 outsourced non-faculty staff, it said.

The committee urged the health ministry to provide competitive compensation packages to attract qualified candidates. It asked the ministry to prioritise immediate filling up of all vacant faculty and non-faculty positions. “AIIMS should implement a streamlined recruitment process, including targeted outreach and competitive compensation packages, to attract qualified candidates,” it said.

Keeping in view the long waiting time for urgent treatment of even critical patients, the committee said the ministry should explore the possibilities of constructing another AIIMS in the National Capital Region, close to New Delhi.

The committee also observed that the ambitious master plan for AIIMS, aimed at transforming it into a “world-class medical university, is progressing but faces delays due to land acquisition and budgetary approvals”.

It said that the utilisation of budgetary allocation at the AIIMS, New Delhi, was a matter of concern. In 2024-25, the institute utilised only 81.96% of the revised estimate till January-end, it said.

“This underutilisation is further underscored by the slow progress of ongoing construction projects. The key issues include delayed project implementation, weak project planning and execution, delay in tendering process and environmental and regulatory hurdles,” said the report.

The committee strongly recommended a comprehensive review of the AIIMS’ residential redevelopment project given its extremely slow progress (2.50 per cent physical, 3.68 per cent financial).

It recommended expansion of efforts to address patient overcrowding and improvement in services including providing temporary shelter (‘Ashray’), enhancing patient convenience through various facilities and streamlining appointments via online systems.

“The committee desires the AIIMS, Delhi to expand the ‘Ashray’ initiative by providing more permanent, weather-protected waiting areas with adequate seating, clean washrooms, and access to affordable food options,” said the report. “This will significantly reduce the hardship faced by patients and their attendants awaiting appointments. However, significant challenges remain, particularly with long wait times for walk-in OPD (outpatient department) appointments and substantial staff vacancies across all cadres.”