New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS): The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava is the top contender among a list of 32 candidates for the post of Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.

The present director Dr Randeep Guleria will retire from the post on March 23.

According to a source familiar with the development, a total 32 candidates are in the race for the post. However, the name of ICMR Chief is top in the list. The post, which Dr Bhargava holds presently, is senior among others and goes in his favour. His mother, Dr Sneh Bhargava, radiologist and medical academic, also held the post of director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi from 1984-1990. She has been the first and the only female Director of the AIIMS so far.

Among the 32 candidates, a total 12 doctors are from the AIIMS. It includes M.V. Padma Srivastava, chief of neurosciences centre; Nikhil Tandon, head of department of endocrinology; Rajesh Malhotra, head of orthopaedics and chief of trauma centre; Sunil Chumber, head of surgery among others.

The four member team of the search-cum-selection committee is expected to meet soon to short-list some of the names among the 32 candidate-list, which will later be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the prime minister for final approval.

The four-member panel comprises Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of Department of Biotechnology Rajesh S. Gokhale, Principal Scientific Advisor to the government K. Vijay Raghavan, and Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh.