Director SKIMS Tenure Expires On 25 June: ‘Will He Get Extension Amid Government Discouraging ‘Extension Syndrome’ Policy?

SRINAGAR: Valley’s premier health care institute Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) is in news these days for different reasons. There are narratives and counter narratives vis a vis extension of incumbent Director Dr. A G Ahanger whose term comes to an end on 25th June this month.

Dr. A.G. Ahanger is completing 09 years as Director (04 years as Director NEIGRIHMS Shillong and 05 Years as Director SKIMS and according to some senior faculty members is pushing ‘hard’ for his extension.

A senior faculty member at SKIMS while talking to news agency Kashmir News Trust stated that: “We submitted a representation to concerned quarters for making advertisement to the post of Director SKIMS as incumbent Director’s term is ending on 25th June 2021. This representation is a routine matter as Institutes like SKIMS can’t be kept headless and the process has to be started well in time. Unfortunately, a false narrative was created about indispensability of the incumbent Director. One can’t cling to a chair forever by denying others their due right. No one is indispensable,” he said.

Earlier it was claimed that only a couple of doctors submitted a representation demanding advertisement for the post of Director SKIMS be made public.

Insiders said that at least 13 Heads of Department have duly signed the representation that has been forwarded to Lieutenant Governor and Chief Secretary asking them to publish the advertisement for the post of SKIMS Director public before June 25.

“A section of the media twisted the facts and tried to create a false narrative that only a couple of senior faculty members want advertisement for the post of Director should be made public, rest are satisfied and happy with the incumbent Director and want his extension. This one-sided affair on part of a section of the media created confusion and it amply shows how desperate some vested interest elements want to mislead the Government,” one of the Heads of Department who is also a signatory to the representation told KNT.

He said it is not in the interest of people to keep this premier health institute headless. “Extension Syndrome is dangerous for any department as it sends a wrong signal and discourages deserving ambitious candidates.”

Another senior faculty member said that none of the signatories has any grudge against the incumbent Director. “His term is coming to an end and there is a need to appoint a new Director. It’s all about profession and it should not be seen through the prism of personal animosity and ill will.”

He said it is really sorry to state that one of the senior members of the Selection Committee, who is also member of the Advisory Committee is poking his nose in all the affairs of the Institute and has already proposed a two-year extension for incumbent Director without taking any one into confidence. He proposed the extension for the Director to reap some benefits which is disgusting.

Meanwhile, a senior doctor who supports the incumbent Director claimed that some faculty members whose interests have been severely hit with the ban imposed on the menace of private practice by the J&K administration have started a campaign of mudslinging against Director A G Ahangar.

He claimed that Dr Ahangar has introduced accountability and since he assumed the charge, the work culture at SKIMS has improved. (KNT)