New Delhi, Aug. 20 (PTI): The government today introduced a bill fixing a five-year tenure for the director of AIIMS but added a rider that his term could be terminated any time in public interest.

Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said: “The director shall hold office for five years from the date on which he enters upon his office or until he attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier.”

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2007, says: “The government shall, if it is in the public interest so to do, have the right to terminate the term of office of the director at any time... giving him a notice of not less than three months in writing or three months’ salary”.

Ramadoss and AIIMS director P. Venugopal have been sparring over the running of AIIMS for more than a year.