RC Deka appointed new director of AIIMS

Ramesh Chandra Deka, who was the dean of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, has taken over as the new director of the country's prestigious referral institution.

Ramesh Chandra Deka, who was the dean of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, has taken over as the new director of the country's prestigious referral institution.

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Deka, 60, who is the head of the otorhinolaryngology (ENT) department since 1995 was appointed director for the next five years or till further orders are issued.

"The orders for Dr Deka's appointment has been issued. He will be taking charge with immediate effect," a health ministry source told IANS.

The tenure of the director is for a period of five years or the age of 65 years.

"I am taking charge as the director with immediate effect," Deka told IANS minutes after taking over.

After nine months of speculation over who would be the next director, his name was cleared on Tuesday by the Appointments Committee of the cabinet.

Till now, TD Dogra was the acting director of the institute since the controversial past director, P Venugopal, retired in July last year

Deka was dean of the institute since 2006. Hailing from Assam, Deka did his MBBS from Guwahati Medical College in 1969 and MS (ENT) from AIIMS in 1973 and joined the faculty position in AIIMS in 1981.

According to doctors at AIIMS, his long stint and his work as dean in the institutes went in his favour.

He has undergone training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and at the Yale University Medical Center in New Haven, Connecticut

In 1996, he went to Australia to undergo training in cochlear implant surgery at the Melbourne University and the Bionic Ear Institute in Melbourne. An accomplished ENT surgeon and a reputed teacher, he has performed over 200 cochlear implant surgeries, including 160 in children.