A decision by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, to consider engaging a “master planner” to work on a long-pending campus redevelopment plan in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak has angered some of its teachers.

At a meeting on Monday, the institute’s standing finance committee is set to discuss a proposal to engage a master planner and programme management consultant for the Rs 206-crore redevelopment plan.

The project is part of a master plan, proposed by the institute and approved by a steering committee in January 2019, to develop the institute into a “world-class medical university” with “enhanced focus on research and academic areas along with patient facilities”.

It will seek to consolidate patient care, teaching, research and the institute’s administrative support zones on the east side of its campus with those on the west side to create one integrated campus.

But some teachers have questioned the timing of the decision to engage an engineering consultancy company, saying the institute could use the Rs 206 crore in many ways to strengthen its own role in the country’s response to the Covid-19 threat.

The AIIMS campus in Delhi and its satellite campus in Jhajjar (Haryana) have more than 900 beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients, and the institute plans to add around 200 beds, a senior faculty member said.

“At a time like this, should we not be spending whatever resources we have in personal protective equipment, medical equipment and human resources? When you add dozens of beds, you ideally also need to add doctors and nurses,” the teacher said, requesting anonymity.

Institute director Randeep Guleria said the Monday meeting was only meant to accord financial approval.

“The master planner will take about a year to finalise the plan. The planning and design and the final detailed project report could take nine months,” he told The Telegraph.

Guleria emphasised the need for quick redevelopment. “Only about 14 per cent of faculty have residential accommodation and that too much lower than their entitlement. Most junior faculty do not have office space or a research lab,” he said.

He said the faculty association itself wanted fast implementation of the redevelopment plan.

But some of the teachers believe that given the challenges posed by the pandemic, the institute should delay the redevelopment plan and focus on enhancing treatment facilities for Covid-19 patients.

They highlighted how the Union finance ministry had earlier this month asked government departments to use their resources prudently keeping in mind the Covid-19 crisis.

The finance ministry had said that schemes already approved for the current financial year would remain suspended until March 31 next year or further orders, PTI had reported on June 5. This would also include schemes for which in-principle approval had been given by the department, the report said.

“In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an unprecedented demand on public financial resources and a need to use resources prudently in accordance with emerging and changing priorities,” the PTI report said, quoting the expenditure department.