JAMMU: Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Itoo, today said that out of 252 sanctioned posts of Doctors, Paramedics, and Non-Gazetted, 142 have been filled up and an additional staff of 101 Doctors and Paramedics have been deployed under the National Health Mission to improve healthcare in remote areas of Ramnagar Constituency.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Dr Sunil Bhardwaj in the Legislative Assembly.
The Minister informed the House that, out of 365 newly appointed Medical Officers, 17 have been posted in Udhampur while the selection process for 181 Medical Officer posts is still underway with the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC). “Once the selections are received, the appointed doctors will be assigned to health institutions experiencing severe staff shortages,” she added.
The Minister informed that in addition to this, the department is also in the process of operating the waitlist for 91 selected Medical Officers. She said that, additionally, 292 vacancies in non-gazetted, paramedical categories from the Directorate of Family Welfare and 290 from the Directorate of Health Services have been referred for recruitment to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board to strengthen the healthcare in the region.
Regarding Ramnagar Constituency, the Minister informed that 51 health institutions have been sanctioned with 19 in government buildings, 29 in rented buildings and 3 in other departmental buildings.
The Minister said that construction and repair work on nine institutes was initiated, out of which, six have been completed and three are under execution. Additionally, initiatives like e-Sanjeevni, Tele-radiology, Tele-Manas and implementation of National Health Mission schemes, Pradhan Mantri ABHIM and PMJAY-SEHAT are strengthening the healthcare services immensely for the UT populace, the Minister informed.
The Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir, with 554 NTPHCs as of now, is among the top in health institution density in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s 2023 report. The region is working on the consolidation of existing health facilities with over 4,200 health institutions across primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The creation and upgradation of health institutions will follow the IPHS-2022 guidelines, which serve as the benchmarks for developing or upgrading the existing healthcare facilities.
