ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES NEW DELHI

ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES NEW DELHI

The health survey and development committee, chaired by Sir Joseph Bhore, an Indian Civil Servant, had in 1946 recommended the establishment of a national medical centre which would concentrate on meeting the need for highly qualified manpower to look after the nation's expanding health care activities. A grant from New Zealand under the Colombo Plan made it possible to lay the foundation stone of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 1952. The AIIMS was created in 1956, as an autonomous institution through an Act of Parliament, to serve as a nucleus for nurturing excellence in all aspects of health care. Its circular insignia has a traditional symbol of the Caduceus to represent medicine. This symbol derives from Hermes or Mercury, the winged messenger and is a staff intertwined by two snakes. The staff is topped by a lotus representing India. A circular border ensconces this motif with its name in Devanagari and English inscribed. Its motto in Sanskrit  ‘शरीरामद्यं खलू धर्मसाधनम्’ meaning 'The Body is Indeed the Primary Instrument of Dharma’ is placed below the emblem.