Staff Crunch At AIIMS: 40% Faculty Posts Vacant Across India, Says Centre

Government data tabled in the Rajya Sabha has revealed a persistent staffing shortfall across India's premier All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), with over 2,800 faculty positions vacant across 20 functional institutes in the 2025-26 period. The data submitted in written response on Tuesday by Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, to a question by MP Javed Ali Khan reveals that more than 40% of faculty positions across various AIIMS remain vacant, with some institutions reporting faculty vacancy rates exceeding 50% in 2025-26.

The information, provided in a detailed annexure, outlines state-wise data on sanctioned, filled, and vacant positions for both faculty and non-faculty roles in AIIMS institutes from 2022 to 2025. The situation remains critical even in older and better-established AIIMS like Raipur, Rishikesh, and Jodhpur.

At AIIMS New Delhi, the oldest and most established, 462 of 1,306 faculty posts remain vacant in 2025-26, which indicates a 35 per cent vacancy rate, up from 29% the previous year. Several posts remain vacant at AIIMS Jodhpur, 186 vacancies, Rishikesh (147), Raipur (116), Nagpur (139), and Kalyani (139).

Newer AIIMS campuses such as Rajkot, Madurai, and Awantipora are operating with minimal or no permanent faculty in teaching positions in place. AIIMS Rajkot has 76 faculty filled out of 183 sanctioned, Madurai has 49 filled out of 183, while Awantipora has 0 faculty filled out of 94 sanctioned.

While the faculty situation is alarming, non-teaching positions also show gaps.

AIIMS New Delhi has 3,106 non-faculty vacancies out of 13,911 sanctioned posts. AIIMS Raipur and Bhubaneswar each have more than 900 non-faculty positions vacant. Across the newer institutes, many have non-teaching staff vacancy rates between 30-50 per cent.

AIIMS Guwahati and Madurai, in particular, continue to show low filled-to-sanctioned ratios.

In his reply, the minister stated that "creation of posts and recruitment is a continuous process" and outlined several ongoing initiatives to plug the staffing gaps. There are Standing Selection Committees at each AIIMS for expediting faculty recruitment. A provision to appoint retired professors on a contract basis, in the new AIIMS, up to the age of 70 years, from Institutes of National Importance (INIs) and Government Medical Colleges (GMCs).

A visiting faculty scheme has also been introduced to bring in experts from other institutions in India and abroad. Nursing Officer Recruitment Common Eligibility Test (NORCET) is being conducted for nursing staff, and Common Recruitment Examination (CRE) for Group B and C non-faculty roles to streamline hiring.

To select junior and senior resident doctors, AIIMS Delhi conducts the Institute of National Importance Combined (INI-CET) and the Institute of National Importance Super-Specialty (INI-SS) entrance tests twice a year.

While some institutes have shown improvement in hiring over the last three years, the rate of recruitment has not kept pace with the sanctioned posts. AIIMS Bhopal, for instance, improved from 199 faculty filled in 2022-23 to 234 in 2025-26, but still has 71 vacancies. AIIMS Bilaspur filled 126 out of 217 posts by 2025-26, improving from 93 in 2022-23.

While India now has 20 functional AIIMS, with three more under construction, their operational capacity remains hamstrung. AIIMS Madurai remains only partially functional with 73 per cent faculty positions vacant-49 faculty positions filled and 868 non-faculty vacancies out of 911 sanctioned. While AIIMS Awantipora, Darbhanga, and Rewari are under development with no faculty recruited yet as of 2025-26.

While the government has initiated multiple recruitment drives and schemes, the data indicates a persistent gap in staffing levels across both established and newly set-up AIIMS institutions. The continuing shortage of faculty and support staff could have a direct impact on the functioning and service delivery of these key national healthcare institutions.