The over 20 All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) across India could be looking at a name change with the Central Government proposing to name them after regional heroes, freedom fighters, historical events or monuments of the area or their distinct geographical identity.
While the Central Health Ministry has not given any official confirmation on the move, murmurs of discontent are growing among the faculty at these world-class institutes. They state that “identity is linked with the name and if name changes the identity of these institutes will be lost.”’
Faculty Association of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (FAIMS), Delhi has now sought the opinion of its members on this issue.
In its letter to the faculty colleagues, FAIMS, Delhi said that if identity is lost, institutional recognition is lost both within the country and outside.
President, FAIMS, Dr. Achal Kumar Srivastava noted in the letter that since identity is linked with the name that is why famous and established institutes have the same names for centuries. Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard universities have retained their name for many years now.
“In India, IITs have a name recognition which gives them an institution’s identity, and there is no proposal to change it. The same is true for IIMs. Indian Institute of Science which celebrated its 100 years of productive life also has not changed its name. Also, the sense of identity is so strong, that Calcutta , Bombay and Madras Universities continue with the same name even though the cities they are located in have changed names to Kolkata ,Mumbai and Chennai,’” he added.
FAIMS maintained that a name change will lead to impending loss of identity of AIIMS
In its one-page communication it explains that AIIMS was created in 1956 with a trinity of mission for medical education, research and patient care. It has fulfilled its mission right since its inception.
“AIIMS, New Delhi will face severe loss of identity and demoralization if the name is changed. This will also affect the standing of India internationally as far as medical education, patient care and research is concerned. We at FAIMS seek your opinion on this very important issue, so that appropriate action from the FASIM side should be taken in this regard,” notes the letter.
Many AIIMS institutes are operational while others being set up under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), are known by their generic name and distinguished only by their location.
