Discrimination against SC / ST professors and students prevalent in AIIMS: Parliamentary Committee Report

Lucknow— Discrimination against scheduled caste [SC]/scheduled tribe [ST] students and professors is prevalent in Delhi's reputed All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). A recent report tabled by a Parliamentary Committee recently confirmed this fact, stating that discrimination was happening in the appointments made as part of AIIMS' regular recruitment drive for doctors. Despite having the qualifications, these students and professors are being denied appointments. The report revealed that SC and ST students who have worked for many years on an ad-hoc basis in AIIMS are not being selected when appointments are made to fill [vacancies in] regular posts.

The 15th report of the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes covers the role of autonomous bodies and institutions in the socio-economic development of SCs/STs with a special focus on AIIMS.

While tabling the report, the committee chairman, MP Kirit Solanki, informed the Lok Sabha that in AIIMS, out of a total 1,111 posts, 275 posts meant for assistant professors and 92 professorial posts are vacant. Despite being eligible on the basis of qualifications and experiences, candidates from the reserved categories are not being fully inducted as faculty members in the country's premier medical institution. In view of the biases existing in AIIMS against candidates belonging to reserved categories, the Parliamentary Committee has made recommendations to stop discrimination on the basis of students' names and fill the vacant reserved posts. The committee has also recommended stopping the outsourcing the jobs in certain areas such as the jobs of safai karamcharis [cleaners], drivers, and data entry operators. At the same time, members of the marginalised sections of society should be included in the General Body of the institute, or else junior members of the hospital staff community were not being selected when posts were being regularised.

Recommendations of the Committee

• In future, once the existing vacancies haven been filled, no reserved post should, under any circumstances, remain vacant for more than six months.
• Adivasi candidates who are equally bright and deserving should not be declared "unsuitable" on the basis of biased assessment. To resolve this issue, the selection committee of the institute should include experts from SC/ST backgrounds, and the chair should also be from an SC/ST group.
• SC/ST faculty candidates are unfairly denied entry to super-specialty courses due to lack of reserved posts in these courses.
• People from the "general" category monopolise super-specialty areas. Therefore, the reservation policy should be strictly implemented in all super-specialty fields at both student and faculty level. So that the presence of SC/ST faculty members is also ensured in these areas.
• Effective processes should be established to send reserved category doctors and students for special training abroad.
• Filling up of Group C/lower posts via outsourced or contractual hiring instead of through regular employment by the institute is tantamount to depriving the poor of their livelihood. The committee is of the view that there should be no contractual or outsourced appointments of workers in non-core areas, such as safai karamcharis, drivers, data operators etc.
• The policy of contractual appointments creates scope for exploitation by the contractors of people from oppressed and marginalised communities. Therefore, the Committee recommends that the government should institute adequate mechanisms to prevent such exploitation of underprivileged people from any social category or class. The committee should be informed about the corrective steps taken in this regard.
• The Committee took serious note of the fact that at present the General Body of AIIMS does not include anyone from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It noted that this situation deprives these members of their legitimate rights to protect their interests in the decision-making processes and policy matters pertaining to them as well as in protecting their rights and interests in service matters.
• The number of seats being allocated in MBBS and other undergraduate and postgraduate courses at AIIMS for candidates from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is far below the expected level15% and 7.5%, respectively. Therefore, the Committee strongly recommends that AIIMS should strictly maintain the prescribed percentage of reservation levels in all courses.
• SC/ST [MBSS] students are seen to perform well in theory papers, but still fail in all three stages of the professional exams [of the MBBS course]. "This clearly underlines the biasness towards SC/ST students," notes the parliamentary committee report.

Filling vacant faculty positions

The Committee notes that out of the total 1,111 faculty posts in AIIMS, 275 Assistant Professor and 92 Professor posts are lying vacant. The Committee is of the view that the fully experienced SC/ST candidates, despite having the appropriate qualifications, "are not being allowed to be inducted as faculty members even at the initial stage".

In some cases, the Committee notes that some SC/ST Junior Resident Doctors who had worked for many years on an ad-hoc basis were not selected at the time of regular vacancies were filled. Therefore, the Committee is of the view that all currently vacant faculty positions should be filled within the next three months. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare needs to submit an action plan within three months from the date of presentation of the report in both the Houses of Parliament. The Committee also strongly noted that after all the existing vacancies have been filled, in future no faculty seat reserved for SC/ST should remain vacant for more than six months under any circumstances.

Biases in evaluation of SC/ST candidates

The committee was not persuaded by the government's repeatedly presented, stereotypical response that "no sufficient number of suitable candidates could be found". This answer does not represent a true assessment of the equally qualified SC/ST candidates. Rather, they are purposively declared as "not suitable" on the basis of an unfair and biased assessment by the selection committee, with the intention to deprive SC/ST candidates of their legitimate rights to be part of the faculty. This crucial challenge can be appropriately addressed by instituting a selection committee that includes a chair and experts from SC/ST backgrounds. This process can eventually result in the appointment of suitable SC/ST candidates to all the faculty posts.

Reservation in areas of super-specialization

The Committee observed that reservation has not been implemented in or extended to super-specialty courses. As a result, members of the SC/ST community have been denied the opportunity to be admitted to super-specialty courses. This has resulted in super-specialty areas being monopolized by unreserved candidates, with unprecedented and unjustified exclusion of SC/ST candidates. The reservation policy should be strictly implemented at student and faculty level in all super-specialty areas to ensure the presence of SC and ST faculty members in those areas too.

For this purpose, that is, to ensure adequate representation is evident in all super-specialty areas, the Committee firmly notes that effective mechanisms should be put in place to send doctors and students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for specialized training abroad.

Examination monitoring and evaluation system

The committee has been given to understand that despite their sincere efforts, MBBS students belonging to SC and ST communities are declared to have failed multiple times in the first, second, and/or third stages of professional examination of the MBBS course. It is often seen that these students performed very well in the theory exam but were declared to have failed the practical exam. This clearly illustrates the bias towards SC/ST students.

This bias should be dealt with a firm hand, and a suitable examination monitoring system developed to eliminate biased practices. Further, to prevent such occurrences, the committee suggested that SC/ST faculty are included as a routing in all such examinations. Furthermore, the committee has learnt that examiners ask students their names and try to find out whether the student belongs to the SC/ST community. Therefore, the committee recommended that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare should take strong action to prevent such unfair practices in future. In fact, all students should sit for the exam using only an assigned code number to prevent such unfair evaluation. Further, the Dean-Examination should investigate all the cases in which such students are declared to have failed and then, within the stipulated time frame, submit a comprehensive report to DGHS[Directorate General Of Health Services] for further necessary action.

यहाँ हिन्दी में भी पढ़ें: संसदीय समिति की रिपोर्टः SC/ST प्रोफेसर व स्टूडेंट से AIIMS में होता है भेदभाव

[Story Translated By Lotika Singha]