The Faculty Association of AIIMS- Delhi has asked for the opinion of its member group on a government proposal to give specific names to all the 23 AIIMS in the country, claiming that it will lead to the loss of its actual identity.
In a note circulated among its members, the association said "identity is linked with the name and if the identity is lost, institutional recognition is lost both within the country and outside." And, that is why famous and established universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard continue to have the same name for centuries, carrying their well-maintained legacy.
According to the note signed by association president Dr Achal Kumar Srivastava and general secretary Dr Harshal Ramesh Salve, "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." 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 their names to Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, added the note.
The note further added, “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 can be taken." They have asked the faculty members to respond within two days.
According to sources, the government has suggested to give specific names to all the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), including the one in Delhi, based on local or regional heroes of prominence, freedom fighters, historical events or monuments of the area or their distinct geographical identity.
AIIMS, many of which are functional while others are still in the process of building are known by their generic name and distinguished only by their location. Six new AIIMS -- Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal), Odisha (Bhubaneswar), Rajasthan (Jodhpur) and Uttarakhand (Rishikesh) got approved in Phase 1 of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).