![Newly appointed Director of AIIMS Jammu, Dr Shakti Gupta calling on Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, at New Delhi. Newly appointed Director of AIIMS Jammu, Dr Shakti Gupta calling on Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, at New Delhi.](https://cdndailyexcelsior.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/K-2-1.jpg)
Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 26: Newly appointed Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jammu, Dr Shakti Gupta today called on Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh and discussed the roadmap for AIIMS Jammu, which is going to start its first academic session of MBBS this year with 50 students.
Dr Shakti Gupta expressed his profound gratitude for entrusting him with the prestigious assignment and assured that he will try his best to live up to the expectations of Dr Jitendra Singh. He said, Dr Jitendra Singh is himself an embodiment of diligence, hardwork and focussed approach, and thus a source of inspiration and motivation for others as well. Dr Gupta said, he will work day and night to set up AIIMS at Jammu in the most befitting tradition.
Dr Jitendra Singh, while expressing the hope that Dr. Shakti Gupta will succeed in delivering as desired, said that what is most important for Jammu is to improvise the work culture and introduce a professional, targeted and timeline-bound work culture which has enabled developed States like Gujarat to achieve their present status. He said, if the North Eastern region of India can undergo a revolutionary transformation and establish itself as an example of a development model for the rest of the country within just six years, there is no reason why Jammu & Kashmir, which has the advantages of far better connectivity, communication and accessibility cannot achieve? The basic change that is required is in the mindset of the work culture, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh also suggested to Dr. Shakti Gupta that AIIMS Jammu is going to offer salary patterns on the same lines as those of AIIMS, New Delhi and therefore we should try to attract the best of the merit from across the country for faculty as well as paramedical staff, particularly the nursing staff. He advised Dr Gupta to resist extraneous local pressures and go for the best in the interest of the Institution.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled that AIIMS Jammu was sanctioned with the personal intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all of us owed to the PM to create in Jammu a state-of-the-art healthcare cum medical education infrastructure. He also assured Dr. Shakti Gupta that all kinds of support will be available to him from the Centre and in case there are any issues at the local level, the same also will be sought to be resolved in the most fair and judicious manner.