New Delhi: Brewing controversy, a Post Graduate (PG) doctor recently moved the National Commission for Scheduled Caste and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), alleging that the authorities of premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi rejected him for the post of assistant professor in the institution for extraneous reasons.
Based on the complaint of the senior resident doctor, the commissions have now asked the authorities to file a response as to why a candidate who had all the qualifications for the post of a contractual assistant professor in geriatric medicine was rejected for the post. The post was kept for scheduled caste quota and he was the only candidate participating in it.
The scheduled caste commission has asked AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria to investigate the case and to file the report. According to a recent media report in TOI, the doctor in the case has been identified as a PG in geriatric medicine with 3 years of senior residency in the geriatric medicine department of AIIMS. Thus, he fulfilled all the eligibility criteria for the contractual position of assistant professor.
He also had a number of publications and necessary experience in the said field. The interview for the post of the contractual assistant professor was held on the 25th of August and the post was reserved for the SC category. However, when the results came out to his utter shock, it was found that he has not been selected for the category.
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Times of India reports that the doctor alleged that he has been unethically rejected in the interview because he previously acted as the President of the Resident Doctors Association and raised up issues that were against the authorities for example he talked about inadequate supply of protective gear for doctors. He also pointed out that the fact that a contractual basis appointment was needed refers to the urgency of the posting yet it has been kept vacant which is illogical. He alleged that he has not been considered for the post though his interview went quite well.
He also added that if the post is kept vacant despite the only eligible candidate being present, then naturally it will ultimately go to the unreserved category.
"Keeping a reserved seat vacant when a candidate for fulfilling all qualifications and criteria available smacks of a design against reserved categories", he told the daily.
NHRC has now instructed the authorities to look into the allegations and to take necessary steps to confirm whether the selection process has actually been faulty and have been affected by 'extraneous reasons'.
Commenting on the whole issue Dr. Guleria told TOI that the selection of a candidate "is based on an interview conducted with an external expert who grades the candidate and recommends if the candidate is suitable for a job at AIIMS. It has happened before that in a walk-in-interview no candidate is selected despite more than one candidate appearing. It has happened in other departments also."