SRINAGAR: The Government of India has acknowledged continuing faculty shortages across All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) institutions, with All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jammu reporting 64 vacant faculty posts against a sanctioned strength of 183.
In a written reply to an unstarred question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav said that AIIMS Jammu currently has 119 faculty members in position, highlighting a significant gap in staffing at the relatively new institute.
The data was shared in response to a query by Rajya Sabha member M Thambidurai, who sought details on sanctioned posts, vacancies and steps taken to address shortages across AIIMS institutions.
The Ministry indicated that recruitment remains an ongoing process, with vacancies linked to multiple structural and operational factors, including availability of qualified specialists, reservation norms and the geographical location of institutions such as Jammu.
While the government did not specify a timeline for filling vacancies, it outlined a series of measures aimed at addressing shortages, particularly in newer AIIMS. These include the constitution of Standing Selection Committees at each institute to streamline faculty recruitment and the engagement of retired professors and senior faculty from Institutes of National Importance and government medical colleges on a contractual basis up to the age of 70.
Additionally, a Visiting Faculty Scheme has been introduced to bring in academic professionals from within India and abroad for teaching assignments, aimed at bridging gaps in specialised disciplines.
The Centre has also institutionalised multiple national-level recruitment and entrance mechanisms through All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, including the Nursing Officer Recruitment Common Eligibility Test (NORCET) for nursing staff, and the Common Recruitment Examination (CRE), conducted twice in 2025, for Group B and C non-faculty posts across AIIMS institutions.
For academic positions, the Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) and the Institute of National Importance Super Speciality (INI-SS) examination are conducted biannually for the recruitment of junior and senior residents, respectively.
Nationally, the shortage remains substantial. Against 1,306 sanctioned faculty posts at All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi, 446 positions are vacant. Other newer AIIMS institutions, including those in Madurai, Rajkot and Mangalagiri, also report high vacancy levels, reflecting broader systemic challenges in staffing tertiary care institutions.
The government maintained that steps taken so far are aimed at ensuring continuity in medical education and patient care services, even as recruitment processes are being expedited.
