New Delhi, March 22 : The tenure of Randeep Guleria as the Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here has been extended by three months or till a new person is appointed to succeed him, an official order said on Wednesday. The order, approved by the institute’s President and on Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, was issued two days before the end of Guleria’s five-year term as the Director. He was set to retire on March 24. According to the official sources, more than 30 top doctors from across the country are in contention for the coveted post, including the current Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bhargava, and the Director General of Health Services, Dr S l Kumar. The applicants also include top faculty members from the institute itself including AIIMS Trauma Centre chief Dr Rajesh Malhotra, professor and Endocrinology Department head Dr Nikhil Tandon and Neurology Department head Dr M V Padma Srivastava. The Health Ministry has formed a four-member search-cum-selection committee to find a new director. The committee includes on Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology Rajesh S Gokhale, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Centre K Vijay Raghavan and Delhi versity Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh. ASH MR
