New Delhi: The Union health ministry has said that scientists working on research projects at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, will only have a six-year tenure, The Telegraph has reported.The decision has angered faculty and scientists and put longterm projects under a cloud.The Union health ministry’s directive, according to the report, says that project scientists and staff “should not be allowed to continue or (be) hired beyond six years of cumulative engagement”. It was issued on July 18.The directive will affect the 3,000 scientists and staff working in AIIMS. Such employees are engaged in “projects on cancer, epilepsy, dementia, diabetes, pain, respiratory illness and infections” the report said. Professors that Telegraph spoke to expressed fears of grave injustice to ongoing research. Achieving a broad research goal could take up to two decades, even though projects are funded for two or three years, scholars told the paper.Amidst outrage among scientists, the AIIMS authorities have rejected appeals from the Society of Young Scientists at AIIMS, to turn down the directive.Members of the SYS also met AIIMS director M. Srinivas on July 20, but were told that the institute is bound to implement the ministry’s orders.Congress’s Jairam Ramesh has tweeted this Telegraph report and noted how this action goes against a 2015 parliamentary committee report.https://t.co/Tzyv3f8YOXThis is yet another example of how a world-class research institution built up over the decades is sought to be micromanaged and eventually destroyed by the Modi government.The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, of which I…— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 31, 2023