Union Health Minister A Ramadoss, in his seemingly unending spat with AIIMS director Dr P Venugopal, is set to once again table a draft ordinance before the Union Cabinet, seeking to fix the term of AIIMS director, on Friday. The ordinance, if passed, can evict Dr Venugopal from his post. The ordinance was last put before the Cabinet on October 1. However, it could not be taken up then because of the Law Minister’s absence. Officials said “since the ordinance involved certain legal issues and needed the minister’s presence, the matter could not be taken up”. They claim to have done their groundwork this time.The Bill seeking to amend the relevant Act (the AIIMS and the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Bill) was introduced in Parliament on August 17 this year and is awaiting legislative deliberations. It seeks to fix the term of the director for five years from the day the director assumes office or till he/she attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier.“Once this Bill becomes law, it will also empower the Central Government to terminate the services of the director even before his term expires for the sake of public interest,” said a senior official in the Health Ministry. The Bill was moved following a Delhi High Court ruling of March 29, 2007 which held that the appointment to the director’s post was a tenure appointment and cannot be curtailed except for justifiable reason and with prior notice to the director. The court had then also directed the Centre and the AIIMS’s governing body to formulate a policy covering the various facets and conditions of service of its employees, including the director, in accordance with law and to uniformly apply such policy in the future.
