(a) whether the Government are aware about the functioning of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS);
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is need to review the functioning of the AIIMS to make it more commercialized; and
(d) if so, the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (PROF. RITA VERMA)
(a) & (b): Yes, Sir. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is an autonomous institution established by an Act of Parliament in 1956. The Institute was set up as a Centre of Excellence of national importance to develop patterns of teaching, clinical work and research in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in all its branches and to demonstrate a high standard of medical education, clinical work and research to all medical colleges, hospitals and other allied institutions in India. The Institute also runs a referral hospital for treatment of patients coming from various parts of the country.
(c) & (d): The Institute Management and also the Government review the activities of AIIMS from time to time. With a view to improve and streamline the management of the AIIMS hospital, a `Hospital Management Board` has been constituted.
Even though unbridled commercialisation has never been the philosophy behind efforts at resource mobilisation at AIIMS, the hospital has introduced user charges for a range of its surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. However, in tune with the Institute`s basic mandate of responsiveness to the needs of the genuinely poor, with the exception of the OPD registration charges, all other services are provided free of cost to the poor and the needy.