Irfan Tramboo
SRINAGAR, Feb 20: The Government today informed the Legislative Assembly that there is no compulsory rural posting or incentive-based policy in place for specialist doctors, while maintaining that the Union Territory is not grappling with any acute shortage of specialists.
Replying to a question by MLA Ranbir Singh Pathania, the Health and Medical Education Department said that although vacancies exist across categories, consultants and specialists are being deployed to peripheral institutions through internal arrangements to meet requirements.
The department provided division-wise details of specialists. In the Jammu division, 258 Consultants are in position while 235 posts are vacant.
For the Kashmir division, consolidated figures showed 24 vacancies of Senior Consultants, 253 Consultants, 458 Medical Officers and 67 Dental Surgeons across districts.
District-wise data indicated gaps in Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramulla, Budgam, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Kupwara, Pulwama, Shopian, Srinagar and JLNM Hospital.
Kupwara has one of the highest shortages, with 22 Senior Consultant posts, 76 Consultant posts, 14 Medical Officer posts and two Dental Surgeon posts vacant.
Baramulla has 32 Consultant and 55 Medical Officer vacancies, while Budgam has 12 Consultant and 24 Medical Officer posts vacant.
Ganderbal has 11 Consultant and nine Medical Officer vacancies, and Pulwama has nine Consultant and 26 Medical Officer vacancies.
Shopian has four Consultant and 12 Medical Officer vacancies. Anantnag has 14 Consultant and 14 Medical Officer posts vacant, while Bandipora has nine Consultant and 14 Medical Officer vacancies.
Kulgam has 15 Consultant and seven Medical Officer vacancies. Srinagar district has six Medical Officer vacancies, while JLNM Hospital has one Consultant vacancy.
To address shortages, particularly in peripheral and remote areas, the Government said 480 Medical Officer posts have been referred to the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission for recruitment.
Once the selection process is completed, the Government said, the selected doctors will be posted rationally across health institutions as per requirement and policy.
In addition, 292 non-gazetted and paramedical vacancies from the Directorate of Family Welfare, Maternity and Child Health and Immunization have been referred to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) for recruitment, the Government informed.
Another 290 non-Gazetted and paramedical posts from the Directorate of Health Services, Jammu, have also been referred to JKSSB.
The department further informed that 608 posts under the Directorate of Health Services, Jammu, are in the process of being referred to JKSSB after concurrence from the Finance Department.
Moreover, 802 non-gazetted posts, including Multi-Tasking Staff (MTS) and sanitation workers under the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, are under examination for referral to JKSSB.
Highlighting measures to reduce patient referrals to tertiary care hospitals, the Government said the establishment of seven new Government Medical Colleges across J&K has considerably eased the referral load on GMC Jammu and GMC Srinagar, as major specialist services are now being provided at newly established institutions.
Consultants and Medical Officers posted at Sub-District Hospitals and Primary Health Centres are delivering services at the peripheral level, thereby minimising routine referrals, the department said.
It added that specialist services at district and secondary-level hospitals are being strengthened through rationalisation and redeployment of manpower, contractual engagement of specialists, utilisation of National Health Mission resources and telemedicine services, including e-Sanjeevani for expert consultations.
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