New Delhi: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has sought a clarification from the health ministry on the process followed in shortlisting of names for the post of AIIMS director.

The PMO asked for the explanation after several senior faculty members of the prestigious institute approached it with a complaint that seniority has been bypassed in choosing the names for the top job.

The Institute Body, which is the AIIMS’ top decision-making body headed by Union health minister J.P. Nadda, has recommended HOD of paediatrics Dr V.K. Paul, HOD of pulmonary medicine and sleep disorder Dr Randeep Guleria and professor of cardiology Dr Balram Bhargava for the top post, out of 53 applicants. “A meeting was held between top health ministry officials and the PMO on Wednesday and a final decision in the matter is expected in a few days,” said the sources. According to a senior health ministry official, some AIIMS faculty members had met the principal secretary to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet secretary over the matter. “They claimed that people who are higher in seniority have been ignored,” said an official. “The PMO has sought to know what criterion was adopted in shortlisting the names of three candidates and why names of Dr S.C. Sharma, HoD of ENT, Dr S.K. Panda, HOD of Pathology and Dr Subrata Sinha, who is the Director of National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, were dropped,” an official said. The official also said a final call in the matter will be taken by the Prime Minister.

The selection-cum-search panel in its meeting on January 24, in addition to Dr Paul, Dr Guleria and Dr Bhargava had also considered Dr Chitra Sarkar, professor of pathology, Dr Sharma and Dr Sinha for the post.