Speaking about the infrastructure challenges, he said the increased patient load is a major challenge faced by the institute.

AIIMS, which witnesses 8,000 to 10,000 outdoor patients daily, caters to patients not only from Delhi, but also from neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan.

"During the preceding year, the institute attended to 27,10,956 patients in OPD including those in the casualty, admitted 1,85,572 patients and performed 1,47,599 surgical procedures," he said.

"The institute has maintained an ideal parameter in patient-care services with an average bed occupancy of over 84 percent and average hospital stay of about 6 days," he said.

Deka said during his tenure, he ensured there was no backlog as far as promotions were concerned.

His retirement was, however, preceded by protests by some faculty members who claimed that they were deprived of promotion. They even boycotted the AIIMS convocation recently attended by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Deka, however, defended the decision of the standing selection committee, saying they were found "unfit" and hence not promoted.

They were less than 10 percent of the entire faculty strength who got promoted, he said. Nineteen faculty members' promotions under the assessment promotion scheme were withheld this year.

Following Deka's retirement, AIIMS has forwarded the name of its Trauma Centre chief Dr M C Misra for the post of its director.

The institute body chaired by Azad recommended Mishra's name to the PMO from among five shortlisted candidates for the final nod.

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