AIIMS Awantipora begins first major faculty recruitment drive

Srinagar, May 18: The much anticipated, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Awantipora has initiated one of its biggest recruitment exercises yet.

With 94 Group-A faculty posts advertised across various departments, the Super Specialty institute has inched closer to operationalisation by its new timeline – December 2026.

The official notification has been issued under Advertisement No 67/2026 dated May 15.

The posts that are to be filled include 85 Assistant Professors, five Associate Professors, two Additional Professors, and two Professors in various clinical and non-clinical specialties.

Online applications will b accepted from May 20 and continue till June 18.

This recruitment is significant one for the institute as it marks a crucial step for AIIMS Awantipora. The long-delayed infrastructure project has begun hunting for human resource for making tertiary-care and teaching institution functional.

The faculty appointments are among the final foundational requirements for academic and hospital services to commence.

These posts had been sanctioned nearly three years ago: in 2023, the Centre had approved 94 faculty and 244 non-faculty posts for the institute. However, most positions remained vacant as infrastructure development lagged much behind the announced timelines.

Till date, all the sanctioned faculty posts at the institute were still lying vacant, while only a handful of non-faculty appointments had been made through centralized AIIMS recruitment processes.

The latest recruitment reflects administrative momentum after years of delays.

AIIMS is expected to reshape healthcare delivery in Kashmir, addressing specialist shortages, overcrowding at tertiary hospitals and dependence on outside states for treatment of complex medical conditions.

The institute is expected to reduce referral pressure on major hospitals with parallel high-end healthcare, research and teaching. It is also expected to expand super-speciality services and postgraduate medical education.

Across country, several AIIMS institutions face major faculty shortages, elucidated by recent RTI and parliamentary data. At least one-third to 40 percent of faculty positions remain vacant across multiple AIIMS institutions in India.

AIIMS Awantipora is now planning a phased operationalisation in 2026.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently stated that the institute is expected to become operational in 2026, with full construction expected to continue until December 2026.

There is no clarity yet on whether the Institute will seek Letter of Permission from National Medical Commission for admitting its first batch of MBBS students this year.