Affordable healthcare

The government has informed the High Court of J&K and Ladakh that there are 5876 posts of doctors, non-gazetted and Class IV Employees vacant in the Health and Medical Education Department in Jammu division and Kashmir Valley.

In respect of the Jammu Division, it said, the total sanctioned strength of Medical Officers for all districts is 1390 posts of which 726 posts are in position and remaining 664 posts are lying vacant. Similarly, in respect of non-gazetted and Class IV Employees in Jammu Division out of sanctioned strength 6868, only 4379 are filled up with the remaining 2489 vacant.

On the other hand in respect of Kashmir Division total sanctioned strength of Medical Officers is 1467, out of which 1395 are in position and only 72 are lying vacant. Similarly, in case of non-gazetted and Class IV Employees in Kashmir Division, out of sanctioned strength of 8628 posts, 5976 are in position and 2651 are lying vacant.

In a related development, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Singh said that the administration is committed to health for all and manpower.

He said issues raised by a delegation comprising political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir will be addressed on priority and in a time bound manner.

He said, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, unprecedented health infrastructure has come up in J&K in the last 3 years.

Due to the government’s consistent efforts, he said, today J&K has one of the best public health care facilities in the country. The administration is working with sensitivity to ensure the common man has access to quality healthcare and the government’s performance on 10 health parameters are better than national average, which is a testimony to commitment of quality of life and transformation in the health sector of J&K, the LG said.

He further noted that more than Rs. 7000 Crores have been spent strengthening health infrastructure and Rs. 881 Crore to upgrade the dilapidated infrastructure in districts.

With two new AIIMS, seven new medical colleges, five new nursing colleges, upgradation of 10 nursing colleges and two Bone & Joint hospitals, Jammu Kashmir is “redefining” the healthcare delivery system.

Two state-of-the-art cancer institutes are also coming up, one each in Jammu and Srinagar, and MoU with Tata Cancer Institute has been signed to provide best care and ensure trained manpower, he noted.

Accessible, affordable and quality healthcare for every citizen should remain a priority and the statement by the Lieutenant governor is reassuring in this context.

 

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