Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Monday said that strengthening and upgradation of existing healthcare infrastructure, particularly in rural and peripheral areas, remains a top priority.
Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakeena Itoo informed the Legislative Assembly while replying to a question raised by legislator Mir Mohammad Fayaz regarding the Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara.
The Minister said that, as per Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) norms, each district in the Union Territory is mandated to have one District Hospital. She added that the Kupwara District Hospital has already been upgraded to the level of an Associated Hospital of Government Medical College (GMC) Handwara, enabling it to provide tertiary healthcare services to the region. However, she clarified that upgrading a District Hospital to a Super-Speciality Hospital does not fall within the ambit of IPHS norms.
She further informed that a 50-bedded Critical Care Block (CCB) is currently under construction at SDH Kupwara at an estimated cost of ₹23.75 crore under the Emergency COVID Response Package-II (ECRP-II). Additionally, a District Integrated Public Health Laboratory (DIPHL) and Block Public Health Units (BPHUs) are being established in the district under the PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
The Minister said SDHs across the UT are being strengthened in terms of manpower, machinery and equipment to provide services comparable to District Hospitals. To address gaps, the department is rationalising services and expanding e-Sanjeevani telemedicine facilities under a hub-and-spoke model, besides planning Mobile Medical Units for remote and difficult areas.
She added that the department is also rationalising medical and paramedical staff and undertaking periodic transfers of long-posted employees to balance patient inflow with staff strength, particularly at SDH Kupwara. Measures such as enforcement of duty rosters, regular supervisory visits, strengthened emergency and diagnostic services, improved pharmacy and referral systems and implementation of National Quality Assurance Standards (NQAS) are also being undertaken to improve patient care.
WSS Batote augmentation underway
Replying to another question raised by legislator Arjun Singh Raju on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Minister informed the House that augmentation of the Water Supply Scheme (WSS) Batote Town under AMRUT 2.0 in Ramban constituency is underway at a cost of ₹2.387 crore, with ₹1.85 crore already spent.
She said the distribution network has been laid and installation of Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) is in progress.
Land allotted to Cluster Universities
In a separate reply, the Education Minister informed the Assembly that land has been allotted to both Cluster University of Srinagar and Cluster University of Jammu for development of their establishments.
The Minister said the universities were established under the Srinagar and Jammu Cluster Universities Act, 2016 under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) by clustering five existing city colleges for each university. Institutions including SP College, Women’s College M.A. Road, Amar Singh College, MAM College, GGM Science College and SPMR College of Commerce were brought under the cluster model.
She added that both universities have developed independent postgraduate schools with their own faculty, and presently there is no proposal to merge or transfer administrative and asset control of constituent colleges to the Cluster Universities. The administrative control of teaching and non-teaching staff continues to remain with the Higher Education Department.
