It is shocking that both Jammu and Kashmir Government and the J&K Nurses & Midwives Council have shown utter lethargy in giving timely response to the notices issued by the Indian Nursing Council (INC) leading to withdrawal of all-India recognition of 11 nursing institutions in the Union Territory and imposition of restrictions on nursing graduates to practice only within J&K.
Reportedly, Jammu and Kashmir is the third state after Bihar and Assam which is facing the tough stand of the nursing council. Earlier, 32 nursing institutions across Bihar and Assam were found unsuitable for conducting nursing programmes.
This is a major setback to those who have posed faith in the government of J&K and opted to go for the nursing courses in the institutions situated in the UT and working under the aegis of this very government and the J&K Nurses & Midwives Council. Sadly, the withdrawal of recognition would affect hundreds of nursing students currently enrolled in these colleges, as their qualifications will carry limited value outside the Union Territory.
It is pertinent to mention that the INC has published in its Gazette notification issued on September 14 that the action has been initiated under Section 14 of the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947, after repeated notices to the J&K Government and the J&K Nurses & Midwives Council went unanswered. Now the big question is why the dispensation which never gets tired of boasting about its efficiency and public welfare intent has drastically failed in taking timely action and has put the future of nursing students of the aforementioned 11 colleges in complete darkness.
Isn’t it appalling that the aforesaid institutions had not applied for statutory inspection for several years and were found “deficient/unsuitable” to run nursing programmes, and the government was in deep slumber taking no corrective measures? Considering this inexcusable situation, one can gauge how careless are the people sitting at helm in J&K? The unfortunate outcome of this complacency of the helmsmen is that starting from March 19, 2025, students graduating from these 11 nursing colleges will be eligible for registration only in J&K, and not in other states or union territories.
It is the time that concerned authorities should rectify the things by enhancing the quality and credibility of the nursing institutions in the UT considering the fact that nurses produced in the UT have to take care of living things that too humans and not the non-living entities.
