Jipmer hobbled by absence of president and Director 

Jipmer faces decision-making challenges due to vacant president and director positions, hindering important policy changes and appointments.

The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) has been hamstrung in taking important decisions or initiating policy change in the absence of a president, who also chairs the all-important governing body of the institution of national importance.

Though V.M. Katoch concluded his term as Jipmer president about six months ago, the Union Health Ministry is yet to appoint a replacement. The sources point to the urgency of the situation, which is now further hobbled by the lack of a full-fledged Director, after the tenure of Rakesh Aggarwal — extended by a year — ended on December 31. At present, the senior-most faculty has been appointed Director as a stop-gap measure.

“For the last six months, there has been no president, governing body convening or selection committee constituted for clearing appointments... everything, from new appointments and promotions, is getting delayed as a result,” a senior Jipmer faculty member said. As Jipmer president, Dr. Katoch chaired a 17-member governing body that included a Member of Parliament from Puducherry, Health Ministry officials, the Puducherry Chief Secretary and the Jipmer Director.

The governing body, being the apex body of Jipmer, is mandated with framing policy and clearing important proposals. For instance, in 2022, the institution had reserved 80% of 433 posts of nursing officers for women candidates based on a decision of the governing body. Also, the Jipmergoverning bodyat its 18th and 19th meetings in August and December of 2023, the governing body had approved important amendments to the Jipmer Recruitment Rules.

The Jawaharlal Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry Act, 2008 (the Bare Act), stipulates that governing body shall be the executive committee and that the “President of the Institute shall be the Chairperson of the Governing Body, and as Chairperson thereof, he shall exercise such powers and discharge such functions as may be specified. It also states that... subject to such control and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Institute may constitute as many standing committees and as many ad hoc committees as it thinks fit”. “The governing body, as the supreme decision-making authority, cannot convene without a president,” said a health academic with experience at the helm of two eminent institutions.

Several years ago, it was the convention in some institutions of national importance for the Union Health Minister to also serve as president. However, Jipmer has so far only seen eminent scientists occupying the post — Dr. Katoch’s predecessor as Jipmer president was M.K. Bhan, whose tenure coincided with the time when Jipmer celebrated its golden jubilee on September 26, 2014.

Meanwhile, at the start of the new year, Gautam Roy, the senior-most faculty member, was appointed the Director of Jipmer as an interim arrangement after the term of the incumbent ended. Even though the process for a new Director had been initiated as early as June, 2023, an announcement in this regard is awaited.